About to set sail to third GC32 World Championship

The top international crews, including America’s Cup winners and Olympic gold medallists, will be sailing on Villasimius at the pinnacle of foiling catamaran racing. 

The return of a titan: Argo 

The event welcomes back the GC32 racing team of Argo. In 2017, the team skippered by Jason Carroll was the run-away winner of the first GC32 Villasimius Cup and podiumed in every race. Now, they are excited to get back to it even if, according to Carroll, the team has not been able to practice much in the past two years. 

New to the Argo the British Olympic Laser gold medallist and America’s Cup sailor as well as three time Moth World Champion, Paul Goodison, will take charge of the mainsheet and tactics. This is the first time the sailor competes on the GC32 Racing Tour. 

“I am excited to get into it, we have had a good couple of days practicing, but we still have some things to work on.” -Paul Goodison.

Alinghi still a favourite

Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi team is still the favourite crew to win this event. They are the defending champions and winners of the first two GC32 Racing Tour events this season: both victories were awarded in the GC32 Lagos Cup 1 and 2 in Lagos, Portugal. 

Nonetheless, there are more teams that have shown the potential to win in Villasimius. These include Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team that finished only two points behind Alinghi at the last event in Lagos. This is only their second full season of the circuit, but they have grown strong as a crew. 

Their top Italian sailor Pierluigi de Felice knows southern Sardinia as he has trained here for three years with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. Another strong competitor is Sébastien Schneiter’s team, Tilt. They won the GC32 World Championship in 2018. More teams to pay special attention to include Red Bull Sailing Team and Team Rockwool Racing. 

The extreme sailing series of the third GC32 World Championship will take place from Thursday to Sunday and is organized by the Villasimius part of the Italian Naval League.