M32 World Championship 2026 in Newport - Day 1
by M32 World 1 Oct 11:47 BST
28 September - 3 October 2026
Four different teams won races on the opening day of the 2026 M32 World Championship, delivering an immediate reminder of the depth of this fleet.
After five races in light-to-medium air, half the fleet sits within just 10 points of the lead. 14 races left. A season of training, racing, and refinement has brought the fleet to Newport with multiple teams ready to contend.
YoungBlood, Midtown Racing, Pursuit and Tuuci each claimed a victory. Pursuit was the only team to win twice, while Tuuci's consistency earned the overall lead. Beyond the race winners, podium finishes from Rated X, Dingbat and FinalFinal showed how many teams could challenge at the front. "Everyone's really, really good out there so anyone could win," said Midtown Racing's Larry Phillips.
The conditions gave that competitive depth room to show. Shifting breeze and soft spots demanded constant adjustments, with teams moving between using and not using the gennaker upwind. A good start helps, and connecting the shifts and maintaining speed through the lighter patches mattered throughout the course.
For Bill Ruh's Pursuit, the opening day offered evidence that a year of work is coming together at the right time. After starting with two sixth-place finishes, the Newport team won Races 3 and 5, with a fourth in between, to finish second overall on 18 points.
"This team has come together in 2026. And so we've been building to this all year long," said Ruh. "I mean we feel like we've got boat speed where we need boat speed. And tactically I think we sailed sharp today."
That preparation translated into the only two-win performance of the day, but even Pursuit had to recover from an early setback. Pursuit found themselves OCS in the first race and worked back to a respectable finish, a reminder that recovery will be as important as outright pace in this fleet.
Fellow Newport team Midtown Racing finished third on 20 points, putting two local programs in the top three. Known for its strength in heavier air, Midtown won a race and had a strong showing in conditions Phillips described as a less natural fit for their team. A lights-out start in Race 2 gave them a commanding lead and secured their first win of Worlds. A second in Race 4 reinforced the result. It's no fluke.
"Light winds really are our Achilles heel. So we're really glad that today - on the lightest day - we escaped with a third place," Phillips said.
Sitting pretty on the top of the standings, Tuuci put together the most consistent scoreline of the day: 3-3-5-1-2. Closing the day with a first and second brought the team to 14 points, four clear of Pursuit. Still chasing its first M32 world title, Tuuci has established a strong start on Day One, but Thompson was quick to put the early lead in perspective. "You know, it was anybody's game out there. It just happened to work out for us at times," said the humble Thompson.
The rest of the results supported that assessment. YoungBlood opened with a first and a second before a tougher final three races left the team fifth on 24 points. Rated X's two third-place finishes helped secure fourth on 23. Dingbat took second in the opening race, and FinalFinal finished second in Race 3 - further evidence that opportunities at the front extended well beyond the overall leaders.
Day One rewarded consistency, recovery, and the ability to make the most of changing conditions. With four winners already on the board and a tightly grouped leading pack, the opening races set up a championship in which a season's preparation will be tested every time the fleet reaches the start line.
Racing continues tomorrow. Three days left.
2026 M32 World Championship Roster
ChinaOne.Ningbo: Paul Campbell-James (GBR), Garth Ellingham (NZL), Louis Brake (AUS), Jake Lidell (AUS), Liu Ming (CHN)
Dingbat: Bobby Julien (USA), Victor Diaz de Leon (USA), Tom Ramshaw (CAN), Max Salminen (SWE), Alan Johnson (USA)
FinalFinal: Jon Desmond (USA), Chris Steele (NZL), Tom Loughborough (USA), Ricky McGarvie (AUS), Brian Porter (USA)
Midtown Racing: Larry Phillips (USA), Sam Hallowell (USA), Mark Spearman (AUS), Mark Bulkeley (GBR), Malcolm Lamphere (USA)
Pursuit: Bill Ruh (USA), Andrew Campbell (USA), Mac Agnese (USA), Peter Kinney (USA), Scott Ewing (USA)
Rated X: Charlie Julien (USA), David Gilmour (SWE), Jeff McCooey (USA), Julius Hallström (SWE), Rhys Mara (SWE)
Surge: Mitchell Callahan (USA) / Ryan McKillen (USA), Jeremy Wilmot (AUS/USA), Ted Hackney (AUS/USA), Sam Loughborough (USA), Will Tiller (NZL)
Tuuci: Cy Thompson (ISV), Tom Burton (AUS), C.T. Olander (USA), John Wallace (USA), Charlie McHugh (USA)
YoungBlood: Miles Julien (USA), Carlos Robles (ESP/USA), Bernardo Freitas (POR), Moritz Spitzauer (AUT), Leonard Takahashi (NZL)
Cape Crow Vikings: Håkan Svensson (SWE), Sam Gilmour (SWE), Jakob Wilson (SWE), Rasmus Alnebeck (SWE), Hugo Christensson (SWE)