A-Cat World Championships 2026 at Davis Island Yacht Club - Preview

by Gordon Upton 17 Oct 17:13 BST 4-6 & 9-14 November 2026

In a couple of weeks' time, some 79 of the top floaters and flyers on the A-Class Cat will assemble at the Davis Island YC, Tampa, Florida for the A-Cat 2026 World Championships. Auckland is still fresh in the memory but that was a year ago, how time flies, and here we all go again in a different continent again.

The friendly, relaxed club is situated to the south of downtown Tampa, on a man-made spit of land enclosing whet is excitingly called 'Seaplane Basin' although alas, few seaplanes, if any, visit there nowadays. The race area is out in Hillsborough Bay, an inlet of the larger Tampa Bay which discharges into the Gulf of Mexico. So, it's a sheltered water and therefore flat, and thus should be beloved by the Open foiling fleet, one half of the A-Cat's twin category. The other half, the non-foiling Classic fleet do like a bit of lump in their sailing from time to time, but at this venue, they will have to be tactical rather than technical on most occasions. The Classics tend to survive and go best at the ends of the class 5-22kt legal wind window. At the top end, a Classic will just bash through the waves, lapping it up, whereas the foiling sailors can struggle to keep these 75kg, 150 sqft sail-bourn thoroughbreds in contact with the planet as they try and take off in every gust, making it very hard work to stay in control. At the other minimal end, the foiler's increased underwater drag, from their complex shaped foils work against them as they need to get about 10 kts boat speed before they can fly, a difficult ask in 6 kts, but the top light guys can get that from 8 kts. The Classic design tends to be a slipperier underwater shape, as their rules say one hull must always be in the water, the shapes are less draggy, designed to unstick a hull and fly it, and their straight or C shaped boards encourage this in the light stuff.

But, the venue promised, and paid for 10-18 kts, so bang in the Open foilers zone, so we expect much action on that score at least.

Now let's have a look at the runners and riders of these two fleets, and with 11 international associations represented. The fleet split this time is a massive 61:18. This looks to represent the increased popularity of the 'Old Skool' Classic category in national associations. It tends to not require such fitness and the circus skills or the Opens. They are cheaper to maintain, and many are attracted to the closer racing and nip and tuck situations that frequently occur on the course. Plus, they are huge fun to sail and without a potential near death experience as perceived by the 'Gentlemen of a Certain Age' who make up the bulk of the national fleets.

Open Fleet 18 Runners

The trophy will have a different name this year, as the three-time reigning champion, the Polish lad, Kuba Surowiec, is absent this year. Although he had dominated the fleet in recent years, we do have several of his rather close rivals attending.

The home favourite has to be Ravi Parent (Exploder Ad3). He is reigning US Champ and was World Champ in 2022 at Houston and won in a thrilling final race by going right when Kuba went left in the final downwind and put 4 boats between them as a result. He has had mixed results of late in the bigger regattas, suffering breakages and fitness issues on occasions. However, he'll be fully pumped to win his second title on home waters.

Next, we have as guy who has beaten both recent champions at his home waters of Garda. Italian ace Lamberto Cesari (Ad3) is never out of the top riders. His attention to detail and Italian passion are there for all to see, and he'll be pushing hard. He too, though, has suffered breakages in the big events, his rudder stock exploded in Auckland as he was chasing Kuba flat out, knocking him down the order. If it hangs together, he is there with a good shout.

However, he has a local rival in the character of Marco Anessi (Ad3). The pair are great friends but couldn't be more different in character. While Lambi is full on Italian Passion while racing, Marco is the silent clinical killer, never seeming to get flustered. He is much newer to the class than many others, coming from a 49er background. He is devastatingly fast so we look out for him also, as he tends to surprise you at the finish.

A couple more American sailors, Mike Christiansen (Ad3) and Bailey White (Ad3) could also be pushing. The ebullient Mike, a local lad form down the road, is constantly in the top two or three in National events, could he push and be on the podium this time. IACA president Bailey can also put in some good finishes when it suits him. Maybe the local waters will help?

And there's a couple of others who could also be up there. Triple former World Champ, the Aussie Stevie Brewin (Ad3) is still capable of putting in top finishes since his Sopot 2017 win with a 5th at Houston. If he can overcome gremlins in boat setup and has nothing snap, on the boat or indeed him, he could be up near the top. Then there is the French Ace Emmanuel Döde (Ad3). He tends to travel well and can put in good results in overseas events. He was 6th at Houston, so could maybe the New World conditions suit him. Both him and Stevie would have been higher placed still in Houston, had they both kept off the course side on that penultimate Houston race too.

Classic Fleet 61 Runners

The reigning champion and Father of the Polish A-Cat, Jacek Noetzel (Ad3) is here defending his crown. Jacek is the driving force behind the class at the UKS Navigo club in Sopot and is credited with the success of Polish sailors withing the class. He will be hard to unseat with his very latest Exploder C board design that allow him to skim the water with ease. But challenging him are two more former champions.

Spaniard Gustavo Doreste Blanco (Ad3) will be hot on his heels. The reflective and quiet Gustavo is supremely fast and seems to rarely have a breakage, so it will be on him to sail faultlessly now. And there is also Andrew Landenberger (Scheuer G8). This Aussie is arguably the most decorated sailor at the event being a multiple Olympic medallist and another triple A-Cat World Champion. Landy is fast and loves the high winds, but can he get the better of the other two? We shall see. But he may also have to contend with his son Andreas (Ad3). This lad can beat daddy at times, and if he can be consistent, stands a good chance of a great result.

For the home team in this category, we have the quiet Texan (and they do exist!), multiple and reigning National champion Bruce Mahoney (Lynx). He has switched codes this year, as they would say in Rugby, and moved from his Foiler to the Classic. He is sailing the new Lynx design, of which about later. Then we also have Bob Hodges, another code switcher and again, a former National champ who is also sailing the new Lynx. We shall watch both sailors and their boats with great interest. We will also see two sailors who managed the get the IACA version of the Purple Heart in this year's Euros in Spain.

Mike Kranz, a sailor who always goes well and has a distinctive boat colour. He managed to blow his knee out and ended up in the Spanish casualty department. This event sees Mike also sailing one of the new Lynx, but no idea of the colour yet. And while technically not sailing for USA, the ISV sailor Chris Batchelor, (Paradox), is another potentially very high-end sailor, but he popped his shoulder out in the same race! He manipulated it back in again on his own, as it wasn't the first time, but opted to retire and was given treatment and advice by a sailor who just happens to be an expert physio, but who shall remain nameless. And another North American to watch could be Todd Woods (Ad3). The Canadian has been putting in some solid results in recent regattas and could surprise himself in Tampa.

We will see two long time US masters of the class, namely Ken Marshak (Ad3), who was rescued from certain death by the Media RIB as he'd became separated from his boat and as the rest of the fleet rushed past at speed on the top mark spreader leg. Ken had put it in whilst in the leading group on the first lap in the historically windy opening race at Punta Ala in 2023. Ken will be hoping to stay on the dry side and could finish well if he does.

And of course, the other famous name is Ben Hall. This sailing legend will also be on the new Lynx, and if it all goes light, is capable of repeating his joyous PuntAla bullet yet again.

Another travelling sailor attending will be Mr Hammer Sails, Micky Todd (Scheuer G7). This Spanish based Ex-Pat Scot can put in some good finishes and can also frequently been seen at the front of the fleet. Then we have an A-Cat newbie in the shape of Derek Scott. Kiwi Derek is also a sail expert and is the North Sails 3Di developer. He is a former Paper Tiger cat and 470 National champion.

The A-Cat Worlds always throws up something interesting. This year should be no exception, but it's not often we have a totally new design arrive. The Lynx is a brand-new design, US built by Fast Forward Composites, a cutting edge composites company in Bristol RI. Known for producing fast ocean-going multihulls, FFC were keen to take up the challenge from Ben Hall to produce a US designed and built Classic A-Cat. Together with owner Tommy Gonzalez's team were a few other class experts, including Bruce Mahoney and Jeremy Laundergan, plus the FCC team of Wolfgang Chaimerlain, Paul Bieker and Manuel Armenanzas. Details are sketchy as of now, as the boat has yet to be unveiled to an anticipating world, but on trailer Facebook shots have it looking rather sexy. But it is understood to be less than 5.49m, long 2.3m wide, at least 75kg in weight all up in sailing trim, but will have no more than 13.94m2 of rig.

The event will kick off in the usual US fashion with the warm-up event Ben Hall's Admirals Cup. A 3-day mini regatta that will allow the boats to receive final tweaks and tuning as well as allowing all the sailors to get to grips with the venue and conditions, before deciding on the locked in equipment choices before the Worlds proper.

It all starts on 4-6th Nov with the Admirals cup, and then the Worlds 2028 proper, at 11:00 on 9th till 14th Nov.

This can only end brilliantly!