“It starts with a dream”: Glenn Ashby on Australia’s AC38 challenge – The Foil Podcast ep 20

America's Cup is back! The full Cagliari debrief - The Foil Podcast - Ep 21

The America's Cup is finally back, and after eighteen months of SailGP we'd almost forgotten how different it feels. So Neil Cole sits down with Freddie Carr and Lewis Smith – The Foil's new reporter and multimedia editor, just back from Cagliari – to dive into our very first taste of AC38 fleet racing. Lewis was on the ground for (nearly) the whole weekend, and shares his hot take: he prefers the AC40s to the AC75s, seeing the smaller boats as more playful and fun to chuck about. He and Freddie dig into how all the racing unfolded, from the chop of day one to the great leveller of flat water on day three, and the autopilot "superpower" that had the Luna Rossa Women & Youth crew outclassing everyone – right up until it all unravelled. The guys discuss what it's like to come back to the Cup after living in SailGP – the longer races, the space on the course, the upwind starts, the joy of actually being able to hear the calls on board – and then run a quickfire vibe check on all eight teams. We've also got the news of a second prelim in Naples at the end of September, Freddie on the legal cloud hanging over Athena Racing, then it’s a switch to SailGP and what's brewing in New York this weekend, where the question remains: who, if anyone, can stop the Aussies? Check Lewis' video from Cagliari: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zBK_WJOXyM Read more on SailGP’s 2027 calendar: https://thefoil.com/news/what-2027-calendar-tells-us-about-sailgp-s-future/ This episode is brought to you by Saily, the eSIM built by the team behind NordVPN. Available across more than 200 destinations, with plans flexible enough for a weekend away or a full season chasing the SailGP circuit – no SIM swap, no roaming bill shock, no wandering foreign airports hunting for Wi-Fi. We use Saily ourselves when travelling to events, like we'll be doing in NYC this weekend. Download Saily from the app store and use code FOIL15 at checkout for 15% off your first purchase. Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. 00:00:00 Start 00:02:23 Comparing the America's Cup to SailGP 00:11:01 Luna Rossa Women & Youth dominate 00:17:03 Day two tactics and upwind starts 00:24:20 Day three and the dramatic OCS penalty 00:33:10 Match race final: Burling vs Outteridge 00:45:06 AC38 prelim team-by-team vibe check 00:51:42 SailGP calendar and New York preview #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #AmericasCup #SailGP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Podcast Extra: Mozzy and Freddie preview the AC38 Cagliari prelim

Mozzy and Freddie are back with a bonus podcast, previewing the AC38 Cagliari preliminary regatta, the curtain-raiser on the road to Naples. With only 11 of last Cup's AC75 sailors returning to the racecourse, and a fresh wave of names making their debuts, this opening regatta in Sardinia feels less like a tune-up and more like the moment the next America’s Cup cycle properly begins. Mozzy and Freddie work through every announced crew list – from Emirates Team New Zealand’s Outteridge–Menzies pairing and the lingering Blair Tuke question, to GB1's surprising helm call, Athena Racing's two-female-helm setup, Luna Rossa's almost-too-stacked talent pool, Alinghi's freshly assembled lineup, and the French team's combination that could yet emerge as the dark horse of the weekend. The Cagliari prelim also marks the first time we'll see B-boat sailors racing for seats on the AC75 itself – a significant format change that could reshape squad dynamics across every syndicate as the fleet builds towards Naples 2027. READ MORE: https://thefoil.com/news/mozzy-s-take-on-cagliari-crew-lists-who-s-in-who-s-out-and-why/ https://thefoil.com/news/freddie-carr-why-the-ac38-prelim-regatta-in-cagliari-matters/ Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. 00:00:00 — Intro 00:04:28 — Emirates Team New Zealand (A Boat) 00:10:32 — Emirates Team New Zealand (Youth & Women's Boat) 00:13:49 — GB1 (A Boat) 00:20:36 — Athena (Youth & Women's Boat) 00:29:23 — Luna Rossa 00:36:03 — Tudor Team Alinghi 00:40:45 — La Roche-Posay Racing Team (France) 00:47:43 — Predictions & picks #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #AmericasCup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

“It starts with a dream”: Glenn Ashby on Australia’s AC38 challenge – The Foil Podcast ep 20

“The time is now,” decorated sailor Glenn Ashby tells The Foil’s Freddie Carr in an exclusive interview on Team Australia’s newly-minted challenge for the 38th America’s Cup.    In a long-promised one-on-one with The Foil, Ashby tells his old friend about how Australia’s return to the Cup for the first time since 2000 came together, and how by the end of this year an expansion to “80-100 people” must be complete.   The feeling and process of building up a team from scratch carries echoes for Ashby of his part in Emirates Team New Zealand’s victory in the 2017 Cup in Bermuda. He also reflects on the technical support from the Kiwi effort this time via the shared design philosophy. “We wouldn’t be in Naples next year without the support of ETNZ,” he admits.   Ashby predicts much tighter performance between the teams than we saw in the 2024 AC37 in Barcelona, and explains what success will look like for the Australians following their relatively late entry for Naples.   Before the Ashby interview, The Foil’s team discuss other matters of the moment, including the 49er, 49FX and Nacra 17 World Championships in France. Andy Rice, who was part of the live stream commentary team in Quiberon Bay, gives us the lowdown and presents a pair of interviews: one with new 49er World Champions Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, the other with Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei who clinched the Nacra 17 crown.   NEXT UP: PODCAST EXTRA Keep an eye on the channel this week for an extra show, as Tom ‘Mozzy’ Morris and Freddie Carr preview the AC38 Preliminary Regatta which takes place in Cagliari this weekend. The duo dissect the teams and crew line-ups as the build-up to Naples in 2027 properly begins.   Also, head to thefoil.com [http://thefoil.com/] to read Mozzy’s analysis of who’s in, who’s out and why https://thefoil.com/news/mozzy-s-take-on-cagliari-crew-lists-who-s-in-who-s-out-and-why/ [https://thefoil.com/news/mozzy-s-take-on-cagliari-crew-lists-who-s-in-who-s-out-and-why/]   Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/thefoil] #WeAreTheFoil [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/wearethefoil] #SailGP [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/sailgp] 00:00:00 Start 00:07:54 Young Kiwis dominate 49er World Championships 00:18:50 Debating the new Olympic sailing medal format 00:24:26 Nacra 17 champions Gigi and Maria interview 00:32:21 Are Team New Zealand underdogs for the prelims? 00:38:10 Glenn Ashby on the Team Australia Challenge 00:52:43 What will win the next America's Cup? 01:07:07 Paul Cayard and the Defi Wind foiling festival Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

First SailGP, now the America's Cup? The Aussies want it all | The Foil Podcast - Ep 19

Australia have now won so many SailGP events that it's starting to look like the anomaly when they don't. Episode 19 of The Foil Podcast digs into a Bermuda Grand Prix that felt like the F50s finally getting to stretch their legs – flat water, proper breeze, big race course – and dissects exactly how Tom Slingsby's crew made it look so straightforward. Andy and Freddie walk through the racing day by day, from Spain's eye-catching foiling speed to the tactical shifts that shaped day two, and from Canada's pivotal error to the breakdown of the grand final itself. There were other stories worth unpacking too. Glenn Ashby's ankle injury, Artemis's mechanical heartbreak and the thorny question of whether the current redress rules are fit for purpose all get proper airtime – as does Ryan Reynolds's first experience of F50 G-forces, which apparently left the Hollywood A-lister a bit rattled. Freddie also reflects on a bruising week with Gladiator in the TP52 Super Series opener, won ultimately by Sled after a tight last-day battle. And then, just as Bermuda was neatly wrapped up, the news was finally made official: a new Australian entry for the America's Cup, backed by the Winning family – 18-foot skiff royalty from Sydney Harbour, now setting their sights on the oldest trophy in sport. Andy and Freddie give their first read on what it means and who might be on the boat. Read more at The Foil https://thefoil.com/news/australia-returns-to-the-america-s-cup-after-26-years-led-by-tom-slingsby/ This episode is brought to you by our friends at Musto, the brand that's been building performance sailing gear for decades, working directly with sailors pushing boats and themselves to the limit. We wear it ourselves, on and off the water. Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP 00:00:00 Start 00:01:34 SailGP travel & expensive pints 00:07:21 TP52 Super Series recap 00:10:18 SailGP Bermuda day one conditions and starts 00:15:46 Spain's aggressive foiling & speed advantage 00:22:02 Glenn Ashby's ankle injury 00:27:28 Ryan Reynolds and F50 G-forces 00:32:51 Artemis breakdown & redress rules 00:38:18 Boundary penalties & pushing the lay lines 00:45:43 Day two tactical changes in lighter winds 00:50:48 Canada's costly mistake 00:56:59 Australia's dominant race strategy 01:02:52 Breaking down the Bermuda final 01:07:03 Australia's historic SailGP dominance 01:11:42 Which teams left Bermuda disappointed? 01:18:26 New Australian America's Cup challenge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Inside Bermuda SailGP, Gitana 18 & which boats make the Olympics? | The Foil Podcast - Ep 18

SailGP returns to Bermuda's Great Sound this weekend for the fifth event of season 6. For episode 18 of The Foil Podcast, Neil Cole, Andy Rice and Freddie Carr serve up everything you need to know before the F50s hit the water. The fourth visit to the spiritual home of SailGP brings a fleet of 12 (no Black Foils until Halifax) onto a stretch of water Andy and Freddie reckon plays more like lake sailing than open-water racing – gear-changey, breeze coming over the land, and a serious advantage to anyone who logged hours there in the AC50 days. Tom Slingsby is the obvious benchmark: he's topped the fleet-racing qualifying series every single time the league has rolled into Bermuda. The lads run over the contenders: a British side licking its wounds after Rio, an Australian squad riding the high of one of the fiercest race-day performances in the league’s history, a US team that simply refuses to let the wheels come off, and the defending Bermuda winners Spain. Beyond the race weekend, Andy shares a revealing sit-down with Jimmy Spithill on his unwitting role in launching SailGP, an inside look at the radical new Ultim Gitana 18 with its three-axis foil control and U-shaped rudders, and what the Switch class might mean for Olympic sailing. Plus Cole Tapper's Congressional Cup blazer, Freddie's first day back on a TP52 at the 52 Super Series, and a strong case against renting a moped in Bermuda. This episode is sponsored by Saily, the eSIM built by the team behind NordVPN. Available across more than 200 destinations, with plans flexible enough for a weekend away or a full season chasing the SailGP circuit – no SIM swap, no roaming bill shock, no wandering foreign airports hunting for Wi-Fi. This week we're using Saily ourselves in Bermuda. Download Saily from the app store and use code FOIL15 at checkout for 15% off your first purchase. This podcast is brought to you by Saily, the worldwide eSim service. Download the Saily app in the appstore and use out code foil15 at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. For further details go to sail.com/foil15 [http://sail.com/foil15] Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP #Gitana18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]