GB1, Britain’s challenger for the America’s Cup, will return to racing next week for the debut event of the 38th America’s Cup (AC38), as the first Preliminary Regatta gets underway in Cagliari, Sardinia, from 21 – 24 May.
The Sardinia event will mark the first time in official America’s Cup racing that Women’s and Youth crews compete directly against senior squad sailors on equal terms in identical foiling yachts, with teams allowed to enter a second AC40 crewed by sailors from their Women’s and Youth teams.
Two yachts will represent Britain in the Preliminary Regatta: one raced by the GB1 crew, Challenger of Record for AC38, and the other by Hannah Mills’ Athena Pathway crew – a professional development programme for British female and youth athletes. This means GB1 skipper, Dylan Fletcher MBE, and Athena Pathway skipper, Hannah Mills OBE, will be racing against each other for the very first time. The two teams have recently completed three training camps together in Cagliari and, while friendly off the water, the race practice has been fiercely competitive, with both teams pushing each other hard.
The sparkling waters of Cagliari, on the southern coast of Sardinia, will see the return of both British teams following their successes at the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona in 2024. Sir Ben Ainslie’s British challenge made history by becoming the first British team ever to win the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series and the first British challenger in 60 years to compete in the America’s Cup Match, and the first in 90 years to score points in the Match. Meanwhile, the Athena Pathway crews finished runners-up in the inaugural Women’s America’s Cup and secured third place in the Youth America’s Cup.
Racing in Cagliari will take place in one-design AC40 foiling race boats, a smaller version of the AC75 used in the America’s Cup itself. Each boat is sailed by a four-person crew, featuring a driver and trimmer combination on each side of the yacht. With each AC40 yacht being identical, all teams will be competing on a level playing field and performance will be down to the crew on-board.
The GB1 crew features a stellar line-up of sailing talent, led by Dylan Fletcher MBE, Olympic gold medallist in the 49er class and SailGP 2025 Season Champion, who returns as co-helmsman and now skipper for GB1. He will be joined on the opposite helm by Ben Cornish, a three-time America’s Cup campaigner and Finn World Cup Series winner.
The trimmers will be an exceptionally experienced pairing: four-time America’s Cup sailor and fluid dynamics engineer Bleddyn Mon, alongside Andrea Tesei, who joins from Italy’s America’s Cup Team, Luna Rossa. Tesei, a former 49er sailor, is also an Italian national champion.
GB1 co-helm and skipper Dylan Fletcher MBE said: “This first Preliminary Regatta is a great opportunity to get back on the racecourse. The level across the fleet will be extremely high from the outset, so this regatta is an important chance to test ourselves, continue developing as a team and represent Britain on the international stage once again.
“It’s also been great to train alongside Hannah and the Athena Pathway team in the lead-up to the event. We’ve had some competitive sessions in Cagliari, and while there’s a lot of mutual respect between the teams off the water, once the racing starts everyone wants to come out on top.”
GB1 Team Principal and Athena Pathway co-founder Sir Ben Ainslie commented: “The racing is going to be great to watch with eight AC40s all fighting it out on the start line in Cagliari, the action will be spectacular.
“GB1 has been training hard alongside our Athena Pathway team, and we’re looking forward to getting out there and seeing where we stand against the other teams. Race Day One in Sardina will be a key milestone and a proud moment for the whole group as we return to the water to compete.”
All the action can be followed live in the UK on YouTube and on the America’s Cup Official Website.
