The Foil Podcast

The Foil podcast team discuss the big America’s Cup story of the moment: the battle for the Britannia AC75 following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s demand for Sir Ben Ainslie to return the boat he claims he owns. Presenter Neil Cole and Andy Rice quiz Freddie Carr on the row, forcing Freddie – a cyclor for the Ineos team in AC37 – to walk a fine line on a topic he cannot be subjective about. Freddie offers an honest take on the situation which has undermined Ainslie’s preparations for AC38 with his rebranded GB1 team.

Later in the show, Freddie then reintroduces The Foil’s technical analyst Tom ‘Mozzy’ Morris, who returns to the podcast – as promised – to answer audience questions on the AC and associated subjects. Among the gems Mozzy and Freddie tackle is which boat would win in an AC40 vs F50 vs AC75 face-off.

To round off the show, Freddie and Andy then discuss any other sailing business, including Freddie’s latest adventures in Dragon racing and the forthcoming 55th edition of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca, which gets underway on Friday (27 March – 4 April), bringing together one of the biggest fleets of the Olympic season on the Bay of Palma.

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Taihoro has splashed. Almost 17 months since an AC75 last sailed, Emirates Team New Zealand have fired the first shot in the AC38 arms race.

But how far ahead are the Defenders really? And what do the challengers need to do to close the gap? In this episode of The Foil Podcast, resident America's Cup obsessive Tom 'Mozzy' Morris joins Freddie Carr to break down everything we've learned so far from version three of the Kiwi machine.

Mozzy believes this protocol delivers fairer rules than ever before – no test boats, no AC40 loopholes, and a more level playing field across the challenger fleet. But Team New Zealand's head start on automation and control systems may prove decisive. Freddie reveals the moment during AC37 when he realised just how far ahead the Defenders were: while the British crew wrestled with boat handling, Pete Burling was simply chatting about wind shifts.

With Luna Rossa expected to launch soon and the challengers' window narrowing before the boats ship to Europe, the race is on. This is your essential briefing on the technology, the tactics, and the strategic battles ahead.

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The America's Cup sprint is officially on. Team New Zealand have rolled their AC75 out of the shed in Auckland, and for the first time in the Cup's 175-year history, there won't be a single human powering the sails.

In episode 10 of The Foil podcast, Andy Rice, Freddie Carr and Neil Cole unpack what the shift from cyclors to batteries actually means for how these boats will be sailed. With a one-design 125kg battery pack replacing the engine room grunt of four elite athletes, the teams face an entirely new challenge: managing finite power across pre-start battles, acceleration off the line, and the constant demands of a foiling upwind-downwind course. And unlike athletes with tired legs, a battery doesn't get a second wind.

Freddie draws on his experience as a cyclor on Ineos Britannia to explain how the crew's jobs will be redistributed across the remaining five positions – and why Team New Zealand's software and hydraulic efficiency under the hood might be worth more than any individual signing this cycle. Meanwhile, the AC40's unlimited power has created habits that teams will need to unlearn fast.

With just 45 sailing days on the AC75 permitted before mid-January 2027, every hour on the water counts. ETNZ are first to splash, but with the design rulebook still wide open, there's nothing stopping their rivals from watching, learning, and designing around whatever the Kiwis discover. The conversation also touches on Paul Cayard's 45-years-in-the-making Bacardi Cup triumph and 18-foot skiff racing on Sydney Harbour.

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🔗 Read more at thefoil.com

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In this week’s episode, Freddie Carr, Andy Rice and Neil Cole break down Sydney SailGP – where the USA completed their redemption arc, Slingsby had a few frustrations, and light winds caused a weekend of upsets.

Twelve months ago, Team USA capsized on the tow boat heading to practice in Sydney Harbour. It was rock bottom for a team that couldn't catch a break. Jump forward to this weekend and Taylor Canfield is walking around the tech zone like the main character in an action movie – J/70 World Champion, M32 World Champion, and now a SailGP event winner.

But Sydney wasn't kind to everyone. Tom Slingsby watched Australia's final hopes disintegrate in Fleet Race 7 when a 30-degree left shift turned what was supposed to be a decisive race into what Freddie Carr calls 'the worst SailGP race I've ever seen.' After missing a Sydney final for the first time ever, the Aussie skipper didn't hold back in the mixed zone, calling out race management for moving the start marks inside the final minute – something he says he's never experienced in over 50 SailGP events.

The team also dig into Auckland's uncertain future, with The Ocean Race potentially holding veto power over the venue slot. Russell Coutts is keen to make both events work together – picture IMOCAs and F50s sharing Auckland Harbour in the same weekend – but nothing’s confirmed.

The format discussion comes up too. Reaching starts, windward starts, stadium racing versus harbour tours. When you're locked into a 90-minute broadcast window and the wind doesn't cooperate, you end up with what we saw in Race 7. But does SailGP have enough flexibility to adapt?

Then there's the propulsion debate that almost ended Freddie and Andy's friendship. Electric motors on sailing boats? One of them thinks it's the future. The other thinks it's powerboat racing.

🔗 Read the Sydney review: https://thefoil.com/news/low-breeze-sydney-still-a-welcome-distraction-from-reality/

🔗 Watch the weekend recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O43YibDBzxQ

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Sydney SailGP is almost here, but the Auckland collision casts a long shadow.

In this week's episode, the team digs into one of the most consequential weekends in SailGP's seven-year history. France skipper Quentin Delapierre joins to fill us in about what happened in Auckland and what comes next. Manon Audinet spent over a week in hospital, and the French team has brought in a psychologist to support their athletes.

Quentin’s message is clear: injuries will happen in extreme sport. The question is how the league responds. Split fleets? Halos? Stronger pods? He believes the answers will come through collaboration – and he won’t be walking away. "I will not quit the league," he says. "I'm fully into it, and I'm focused to win this championship one day. But some of the athletes have concerns, and that’s normal."

The podcast also previews Sydney's twilight racing, where shifty harbour breeze and the tactical puzzle of Shark Island await. With France and New Zealand sidelined, the championship door is open for teams who can seize the moment. Australia and Great Britain are the boats to beat on equal points at the top of the season leaderboard. But lighter winds could create opportunities nobody saw coming.

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