Athena Racing’s two British AC40 crews are racing in the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Naples after GB1 returned to the water following damage sustained in training. The event, running from 25 to 27 September after official practice on 24 September, is the first competitive racing on the Bay of Naples waters scheduled to host the 2027 Louis Vuitton Cup and America’s Cup Match.
GB1’s senior boat was repaired in time after a collision with a Tudor Team Alinghi chase boat during training damaged its starboard foil arm. Reporting from practice said Alinghi loaned a spare foil arm, while Athena’s shore crew worked overnight to restore the boat. The recovery gives the British challenger an immediate route back into racing rather than a regatta spent on the sidelines.
Naples is the second preliminary regatta of the 38th America’s Cup cycle. Its results will not count towards the 2027 standings, but the racing offers teams a direct test of crew combinations and local conditions before next year’s challenger series.
British senior and women’s/youth crews enter
Six teams are listed for the regatta. Emirates Team New Zealand, Athena Racing and Luna Rossa have each entered both a senior boat and a women’s and youth boat, while Tudor Team Alinghi, La Roche-Posay Racing Team and American Racing Challenger Team USA complete the fleet.
Dylan Fletcher and Ben Cornish are named as GB1’s helms, with Bleddyn Mon and Andrea Tesei listed as trimmers. Hannah Mills and Ellie Aldridge are the helms on GB2, Athena Racing’s women’s and youth entry, alongside trimmers Sam Webb and Matt Beck.
The format is fleet racing across the three race days, with up to eight fleet races scheduled over the weekend. The two highest-scoring boats will then contest a winner-takes-all match race on Sunday. That structure gives both British entries an opportunity to make an early impression, but places particular value on consistency through the fleet programme.
The AC40s are one-design boats, meaning the Naples fleet provides a direct comparison between the entered crews in the same class. The event also puts senior and women’s/youth Athena Racing crews on the water in parallel, rather than limiting the British programme to the repaired GB1 boat.
Team Australia is not racing in Naples. Yachting World reported that the absence leaves the Australian team without this competitive on-water opportunity before next year’s challenger events, while the other entered teams can gather race experience at the match venue.
Practice offered an early, non-counting reference
Practice racing on 24 September provided only a provisional guide. Sailweb reported that Luna Rossa’s senior crew set the early pace, while American Racing Challenger Team USA was also competitive. The practice results did not count towards the regatta.
GB1 was described as being in contention through the afternoon and finished level on non-counting points with Luna Rossa’s women’s and youth crew. Fletcher said the British crew had looked rusty after comparatively limited AC40 sailing, but regarded the session as a useful chance to understand the racecourse. He also indicated that mistakes had prevented a stronger practice outcome.
Mills said GB2 had endured difficult results but had produced some strong starts while working on that part of its racing. With three counting races scheduled for the opening day, the British crews now move from testing into a competition that can reveal how effectively they adapt to the Bay of Naples course.
For Athena Racing, the immediate significance is twofold. GB1’s repaired return allows Fletcher, Cornish, Mon and Tesei to resume their planned programme after the training incident, while GB2 receives race time in the same one-design fleet. Neither outcome decides the 2027 contest, but both crews can use this weekend’s racing as evidence of where their preparations stand on the waters that matter next year.