The opening six fleet races of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta have turned the Gulf of Angels into an absolute pressure cooker. With eight equalised AC40s fighting for real estate in conditions ranging from 21-knot survival chop to ultra-tactical light-air patches, the regatta has been a brutal test of nerves.
For the defender, Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ), the unique dual-entry format has yielded two fascinatingly distinct storylines: a senior “Principal” boat swinging between world-class dominance and catastrophic system meltdowns, and a “Women & Youth” squad quietly engineering an incredibly steep learning curve on the world stage.
Here is how both Kiwi crews fared through the first six critical races.
The standings after fleet Race 6
Following two days of edge-of-your-seat fleet racing, the leaderboard highlights the razor-thin margins defining the AC40 class:
| First four positions after Fleet Race 6 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Team | Points |
| 1st | Luna Rossa – Women & Youth | 55 |
| 2nd | Emirates Team New Zealand (Principal) | 47 |
| 3rd | Luna Rossa (Principal) | 44 |
| 4th | Emirates Team New Zealand (Women & Youth) | 43 |
ETNZ Principal boat: brilliance interrupted by heartbreak
Spearheaded by co-helmsmen Nathan Outteridge and Seb Menzies, the senior Kiwi boat has proven they possess the raw boat speed and tactical positioning to win the 38th America’s Cup cycle. However, execution under pressure has cost them dearly.
“It was a tough battle. It was really tricky out there. There were a few gusts and lulls, and more up and down compared to yesterday. Luna Rossa kept us on our toes, and it was nice to keep chipping away. On that last downwind of the first race, we had a couple of close exchanges. It was good to get them on the finish line. We are aware that we have to keep the focus in every race because we saw what happened yesterday.”
The breakthroughs: After dropping back due to an early penalty in Race 1, the principal crew answered back fiercely. They logged a spectacular, gritty victory in Race 2, aggressively defending a three-way match race situation against the senior and junior Italian entries. They added another clinical win in Race 4, showcasing excellent tactical recovery to edge out a charging fleet.
The heartbreak: The main talking point of ETNZ’s regatta, however, has been the final-leg disasters. In both Race 3 and Race 6, the senior boat was leading comfortably and on track for victory. In Race 3, a late gybe in heavy chop caused the AC40 to porpoise and suffer a massive, speed-killing nose-dive just seconds from the finish line. In Race 6, a severe autopilot glitch caused the boat to kick violently out of the water and stuff its bow into the Mediterranean, dropping them to last place instantly.
“The racing is epic. Nothing that I have done beats AC40 racing and it is so tight and so close. We didn’t expect the breeze to die like this. We got to race on all three jib sizes, which was pretty fun. A few good races and we just got a bit stuck in a couple of moments where we didn’t get in the right spot, but it was a good day all in all. I think we are pretty happy.
A couple of good battles with the Italian teams. It seems to be a bit of a theme. We are having a lot of battles with those guys. It’s good to go through the processes with the four of us and go through the communication and experience racing, which is really cool.”
Despite these spectacular meltdowns, Outteridge and Menzies sit firmly in second place, proving their underlying baseline pace is lethal when the boat stays on its foils.
ETNZ go down // America’s Cup media
ETNZ Women and Youth: climbing a mountain of gold
While the senior team rode a roller coaster of emotions, ETNZ’s development squad—featuring Olympic foil sailor Erica Dawson on the starboard helm, Moth specialist Jake Pye on the port helm, and youth prodigies Josh Armit and Serena Woodall trimming—quietly established themselves as a premier threat.
“The second start had a pretty close call with Alinghi, we were coming off the boat end on starboard, and they were trying to do a port start. It got a bit too close for comfort there and that kind of set us off on the back foot for that start, which is a bit of a shame. But we managed to get ourselves back a few places, which was good.
We haven’t done that many hours in the boat, so every day is new. We see the conditions and adjust to that and try to learn as much as we can and take forward through the rest of the campaign. The racing has been awesome and it’s really cool to have a big variety of races.”
Sailing with composure: Unlike some rival development programs, the Kiwi youth boat refused to be intimidated by the senior Cup teams. In the heavy air of Day 1, they stayed entirely out of trouble, locking down two highly consistent 4th-place finishes.
The highlight: Their shining moment came in Race 4, where they capitalized on light-air shifts and clean maneuvers to cross the line in 3rd place, finishing ahead of the dominant Luna Rossa youth prodigies.
A tough lesson in consistency: Race 5 threw a wrench in their upward trajectory. A critical tactical knockback from the French team (La Roche-Posay) pushed them into bad air, showing just how unforgiving fleet racing can be when you lose your lane.Sitting in 4th overall and just four points back from the senior Luna Rossa boat, Dawson highlighted the rapid evolution of the crew: “Our learning curve is just so steep at the moment… every hour on the water, we are learning so much.”
Key takeaways
The in-house duel is paying off: Fielding two boats has accelerated data sharing. The structural cooperation between the senior crew and the youth squad has kept both Kiwi boats heavily relevant in the top four.
Luna Rossa’s W&Y are the benchmark: The standout story of Sardinia remains Marco Gradoni’s Luna Rossa Women & Youth team, who lead the regatta. For ETNZ’s Principal boat to win the regatta, they must figure out how to stop making the unforced errors that the Italian youth crew keeps ruthlessly punishing.
Mechanics vs. mindset: ETNZ has the speed to defend their crown, but Sardinia has exposed system vulnerabilities—both technical and human—under high-load downwind conditions.
With only two fleet races remaining before the top two boats advance to the winner-takes-all match race final, ETNZ’s principal team must find stability, while their Women & Youth crew aims to cement a historic top-half finish against the absolute best in the world.
