Race win for Athena Pathway while GB1 forced to sit out day 2 of America's Cup Preliminary Regatta
by GB1 24 May 07:02 BST
22-24 May 2026
GB1 downs sails and returns to the dock after hydraulic issues at the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta - Day 2 © GB1
The British women and youth America's Cup team, Athena Pathway, secured a race win on day two of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia, while the British senior team, GB1, was forced to sit out due to a boat issue.
GB1, skippered by Dylan Fletcher MBE, had to retire from racing after suffering a hydraulic issue on-board the one-design AC40 race boat during its warm-up laps. Work is under way to get GB1 back on the water for the third and final day of racing on Sunday and a full review will be undertaken.
Fletcher said it was "a super tough day" for the team, but he was hopeful his crew could be back in action on Sunday.
"In the warm-up laps we experienced a major hydraulic issue which meant no racing for us today," Fletcher said.
"The boat has had a few issues before and those little gremlins seem to be creeping back in now, so we need to understand what it is and get to the bottom of it to hopefully iron out those issues. This is the America's Cup and it's super tough, and right now it is very testing for us, but we take confidence from how we were going in the practice racing and our one race on Friday. It's definitely a difficult time but we are hoping to be back out there swinging on Sunday."
The issue means GB1 has only been able to compete in one of the six fleet races that have taken place across the two days of action in Cagliari, Sardinia. The British Challenger of Record missed the first two races on Friday due to gear failure of a one-design supplier part on the team's AC40. While the team was able to repair the issue in time for the third race on Friday and secured a second-place finish, missing out on five races means they currently sit at the bottom of the leaderboard on nine points. Meanwhile, Britain's women and youth team, Athena Pathway, is in sixth after placing 6th, 7th, 7th, 6th, 1st and 6th in the six fleet races.
Speaking about the race win, Athena Pathway CEO, skipper and helm Hannah Mills OBE said: "It was so good to get a race win, especially in those super tough conditions. It was all about staying on the foils and we managed to do that and come through for the race win. Sam Webb's face when we crossed the finish line, he was absolutely buzzing, he's only 20-years-old and winning a race against the America's Cup teams is pretty unbelievable. I'm so proud of the team for that one, we know we've got it in us, it's just putting it all together when it matters."
The Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia features eight teams from five nations competing in the one-design AC40 foiling monohulls. Each nation was able to enter up to two AC40s, one representing their senior team and one representing their women and youth team. Great Britain, New Zealand and Italy all entered two teams while France and Switzerland both entered one team representing their senior squads.
After six fleet races, the current leader is Italy's Luna Rossa women and youth team on 45 points, while America's Cup Defender Emirates Team New Zealand is in second on 38 points. Luna Rossa's senior team is in third on 36 points followed by Emirates Team New Zealand's women and youth team in fourth on 33 points. Frances La Roche-Posay sits in fifth with 31 points, Athena Pathway is in sixth on 25, Switzerland's Tudor Team Alinghi is in seventh, also on 25 points and GB1 is in eighth with nine points.
GB1 CEO Ian Walker said it was "frustrating" the team had faced two issues with the one-design AC40 across the two days, but remained optimistic by exclaiming "if it doesn't beat you, it makes you stronger".
"We've been so excited for this regatta and we thought we were in with a great shot, but we've had two huge issues which have held us back," Walker said.
"The first issue yesterday was an isolated incident which we recovered from for the last race. Today was the return of an old issue that we've seen many times before, as have other teams, to do with the hydraulic pump in this one-design boat. We know the boat has this problem and we are always managing the problem, just seems it came back to haunt us today. I'm disappointed as I know how hard the team has been working, but it's a training regatta and we've still got Sunday left so hopefully we can fix things for the final day."
Racing continues tomorrow at the third and final day of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Preliminary Regatta Sardinia. There will be two fleet races before the two teams enter the match race final. UK viewers can watch the action live on YouTube or this website from 14:00 BST.