After the 2023 World Series was cancelled, Sardinia and Cagliari are taking revenge. Sardinia and Cagliari will host the first regattas of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup, scheduled for Naples in July 2027. The first Preliminary Regattas for the teams—from New Zealand with the defender Emirates Team New Zealand, from Great Britain with the Challenger of Record Athena Racing, from Italy with Luna Rossa, from Switzerland with Alinghi Tudor, and from France with k-Challenge—will be held in the Golfo degli Angeli off the port of Cagliari from May 21 to 24, 2026.
All the protagonists in Cagliari
The announcement was made during a press conference held on January 16 in Cagliari, just days before the official presentation ceremony of the America’s Cup Partnership and the teams participating in the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup, scheduled for January 21 in Naples. Hosting the event in Cagliari were Franco Cuccureddu, Regional Councillor for Tourism of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, who thanked his own managers and officials, as well as those of Sport e Salute spa, Grant Dalton, CEO of Team New Zealand, Leslie Ryan and Luis Saenz de Mariscal of America’s Cup Event, Minister Andrea Abodi, CEO of Sport e Salute, Diego Nepi Molineris, and the Mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi. The five teams registered so far will compete aboard AC40s. The schedule includes a series of fleet races during the first few days, after which the top two teams will compete in a final. For all the teams competing in the 38th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, the race in Sardinia will be the first opportunity to compete, even if it’s a one-design, and to evaluate the performance and tactics of the crews.
The Preliminary Regattas as recognition of Sardinia
“Being at Molo Ichnusa today,” emphasized Alessandra Todde, President of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, “in the context in which the Luna Rossa team has occupied for 12 years, together with the organizers of the America’s Cup, means supporting an opportunity of extraordinary value not only for Cagliari, but for the whole of Sardinia. Hosting the inaugural event of the 38th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup represents international recognition of our island as an ideal location for high-level sailing, thanks to a unique race course, exceptional natural conditions, and a long sporting and maritime tradition.”
A path that is completed
“Cagliari’s role is no coincidence,” emphasized Diego Nepi Molineris, CEO of Sport e Salute. “Thanks to extraordinary wind and sea conditions, a solid international reputation, and a well-established sporting legacy, the city was already identified in 2015 as the venue for sailing regattas in the Rome 2024 bid dossier. Further opportunities were then considered in 2020 and 2023, but neither were realized. This process has now come to fruition.”
Four days of great sailing & show
Leslie Ryan, Event Director, concluded the meeting: “Planning is already well underway here in Cagliari, Sardinia, to offer a spectacular event next May. A race course in the bay visible to spectators from land, a central race village packed with content, and giant screens that will be set up along the harbor and accessible to all. It promises to be an action-packed four-day program.”
Emilio Martinelli
