The Foil Podcast

The Foil

We are The Foil, a new wave of racing media. Founded and launched in 2026, we are a fresh, all-new, proudly independent digital media brand dedicated to the sport of sail racing. Our focus is centred around the major peaks of the international sport: SailGP, the America’s Cup and the Olympic Games, plus offshore classes and events, and the diverse wider world of sailing competitions that take place around the globe. Our mission is simple: to promote, talk about and report on the detail of an international sport that deserves a much higher profile beyond the dedicated sailing community who follow racing around the globe. We operate independently of series and event promoters and governing bodies as an impartial voice for the sport of sail racing. Subscribe to The Foil YouTube channel and follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and LinkedIn.

  1. Podcast Extra: Mozzy and Freddie preview the AC38 Cagliari prelim

    2D AGO ·  BONUS

    Podcast Extra: Mozzy and Freddie preview the AC38 Cagliari prelim

    Mozzy and Freddie are back with a bonus podcast, previewing the AC38 Cagliari preliminary regatta, the curtain-raiser on the road to Naples. With only 11 of last Cup's AC75 sailors returning to the racecourse, and a fresh wave of names making their debuts, this opening regatta in Sardinia feels less like a tune-up and more like the moment the next America’s Cup cycle properly begins. Mozzy and Freddie work through every announced crew list – from Emirates Team New Zealand’s Outteridge–Menzies pairing and the lingering Blair Tuke question, to GB1's surprising helm call, Athena Racing's two-female-helm setup, Luna Rossa's almost-too-stacked talent pool, Alinghi's freshly assembled lineup, and the French team's combination that could yet emerge as the dark horse of the weekend. The Cagliari prelim also marks the first time we'll see B-boat sailors racing for seats on the AC75 itself – a significant format change that could reshape squad dynamics across every syndicate as the fleet builds towards Naples 2027. READ MORE: https://thefoil.com/news/mozzy-s-take-on-cagliari-crew-lists-who-s-in-who-s-out-and-why/ https://thefoil.com/news/freddie-carr-why-the-ac38-prelim-regatta-in-cagliari-matters/ Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. 00:00:00 — Intro 00:04:28 — Emirates Team New Zealand (A Boat) 00:10:32 — Emirates Team New Zealand (Youth & Women's Boat) 00:13:49 — GB1 (A Boat) 00:20:36 — Athena (Youth & Women's Boat) 00:29:23 — Luna Rossa 00:36:03 — Tudor Team Alinghi 00:40:45 — La Roche-Posay Racing Team (France) 00:47:43 — Predictions & picks #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #AmericasCup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    53 min
  2. “It starts with a dream”: Glenn Ashby on Australia’s AC38 challenge – The Foil Podcast ep 20

    2D AGO

    “It starts with a dream”: Glenn Ashby on Australia’s AC38 challenge – The Foil Podcast ep 20

    “The time is now,” decorated sailor Glenn Ashby tells The Foil’s Freddie Carr in an exclusive interview on Team Australia’s newly-minted challenge for the 38th America’s Cup.    In a long-promised one-on-one with The Foil, Ashby tells his old friend about how Australia’s return to the Cup for the first time since 2000 came together, and how by the end of this year an expansion to “80-100 people” must be complete.   The feeling and process of building up a team from scratch carries echoes for Ashby of his part in Emirates Team New Zealand’s victory in the 2017 Cup in Bermuda. He also reflects on the technical support from the Kiwi effort this time via the shared design philosophy. “We wouldn’t be in Naples next year without the support of ETNZ,” he admits.   Ashby predicts much tighter performance between the teams than we saw in the 2024 AC37 in Barcelona, and explains what success will look like for the Australians following their relatively late entry for Naples.   Before the Ashby interview, The Foil’s team discuss other matters of the moment, including the 49er, 49FX and Nacra 17 World Championships in France. Andy Rice, who was part of the live stream commentary team in Quiberon Bay, gives us the lowdown and presents a pair of interviews: one with new 49er World Champions Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, the other with Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei who clinched the Nacra 17 crown.   NEXT UP: PODCAST EXTRAKeep an eye on the channel this week for an extra show, as Tom ‘Mozzy’ Morris and Freddie Carr preview the AC38 Preliminary Regatta which takes place in Cagliari this weekend. The duo dissect the teams and crew line-ups as the build-up to Naples in 2027 properly begins.   Also, head to thefoil.com to read Mozzy’s analysis of who’s in, who’s out and why https://thefoil.com/news/mozzy-s-take-on-cagliari-crew-lists-who-s-in-who-s-out-and-why/   Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP 00:00:00 Start 00:07:54 Young Kiwis dominate 49er World Championships 00:18:50 Debating the new Olympic sailing medal format 00:24:26 Nacra 17 champions Gigi and Maria interview 00:32:21 Are Team New Zealand underdogs for the prelims? 00:38:10 Glenn Ashby on the Team Australia Challenge 00:52:43 What will win the next America's Cup? 01:07:07 Paul Cayard and the Defi Wind foiling festival Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 15m
  3. First SailGP, now the America's Cup? The Aussies want it all | The Foil Podcast - Ep 19

    MAY 14

    First SailGP, now the America's Cup? The Aussies want it all | The Foil Podcast - Ep 19

    Australia have now won so many SailGP events that it's starting to look like the anomaly when they don't. Episode 19 of The Foil Podcast digs into a Bermuda Grand Prix that felt like the F50s finally getting to stretch their legs – flat water, proper breeze, big race course – and dissects exactly how Tom Slingsby's crew made it look so straightforward. Andy and Freddie walk through the racing day by day, from Spain's eye-catching foiling speed to the tactical shifts that shaped day two, and from Canada's pivotal error to the breakdown of the grand final itself. There were other stories worth unpacking too. Glenn Ashby's ankle injury, Artemis's mechanical heartbreak and the thorny question of whether the current redress rules are fit for purpose all get proper airtime – as does Ryan Reynolds's first experience of F50 G-forces, which apparently left the Hollywood A-lister a bit rattled. Freddie also reflects on a bruising week with Gladiator in the TP52 Super Series opener, won ultimately by Sled after a tight last-day battle. And then, just as Bermuda was neatly wrapped up, the news was finally made official: a new Australian entry for the America's Cup, backed by the Winning family – 18-foot skiff royalty from Sydney Harbour, now setting their sights on the oldest trophy in sport. Andy and Freddie give their first read on what it means and who might be on the boat. Read more at The Foil https://thefoil.com/news/australia-returns-to-the-america-s-cup-after-26-years-led-by-tom-slingsby/ This episode is brought to you by our friends at Musto, the brand that's been building performance sailing gear for decades, working directly with sailors pushing boats and themselves to the limit. We wear it ourselves, on and off the water. Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP 00:00:00 Start 00:01:34 SailGP travel & expensive pints 00:07:21 TP52 Super Series recap 00:10:18 SailGP Bermuda day one conditions and starts 00:15:46 Spain's aggressive foiling & speed advantage 00:22:02 Glenn Ashby's ankle injury 00:27:28 Ryan Reynolds and F50 G-forces 00:32:51 Artemis breakdown & redress rules 00:38:18 Boundary penalties & pushing the lay lines 00:45:43 Day two tactical changes in lighter winds 00:50:48 Canada's costly mistake 00:56:59 Australia's dominant race strategy 01:02:52 Breaking down the Bermuda final 01:07:03 Australia's historic SailGP dominance 01:11:42 Which teams left Bermuda disappointed? 01:18:26 New Australian America's Cup challenge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 26m
  4. Inside Bermuda SailGP, Gitana 18 & which boats make the Olympics? | The Foil Podcast - Ep 18

    MAY 7

    Inside Bermuda SailGP, Gitana 18 & which boats make the Olympics? | The Foil Podcast - Ep 18

    SailGP returns to Bermuda's Great Sound this weekend for the fifth event of season 6. For episode 18 of The Foil Podcast, Neil Cole, Andy Rice and Freddie Carr serve up everything you need to know before the F50s hit the water. The fourth visit to the spiritual home of SailGP brings a fleet of 12 (no Black Foils until Halifax) onto a stretch of water Andy and Freddie reckon plays more like lake sailing than open-water racing – gear-changey, breeze coming over the land, and a serious advantage to anyone who logged hours there in the AC50 days. Tom Slingsby is the obvious benchmark: he's topped the fleet-racing qualifying series every single time the league has rolled into Bermuda. The lads run over the contenders: a British side licking its wounds after Rio, an Australian squad riding the high of one of the fiercest race-day performances in the league’s history, a US team that simply refuses to let the wheels come off, and the defending Bermuda winners Spain. Beyond the race weekend, Andy shares a revealing sit-down with Jimmy Spithill on his unwitting role in launching SailGP, an inside look at the radical new Ultim Gitana 18 with its three-axis foil control and U-shaped rudders, and what the Switch class might mean for Olympic sailing. Plus Cole Tapper's Congressional Cup blazer, Freddie's first day back on a TP52 at the 52 Super Series, and a strong case against renting a moped in Bermuda. This episode is sponsored by Saily, the eSIM built by the team behind NordVPN. Available across more than 200 destinations, with plans flexible enough for a weekend away or a full season chasing the SailGP circuit – no SIM swap, no roaming bill shock, no wandering foreign airports hunting for Wi-Fi. This week we're using Saily ourselves in Bermuda. Download Saily from the app store and use code FOIL15 at checkout for 15% off your first purchase. This podcast is brought to you by Saily, the worldwide eSim service. Download the Saily app in the appstore and use out code foil15 at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. For further details go to sail.com/foil15 Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP #Gitana18 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 3m
  5. New signings, 7th challenger leaked & the design stables reshaping AC38 - The Foil Podcast - Ep 17

    APR 30

    New signings, 7th challenger leaked & the design stables reshaping AC38 - The Foil Podcast - Ep 17

    New alliances, new signings, and a secret that slipped out… In episode 17, Andy Rice, Freddie Carr and Neil Cole dig into the detail of how AC38 is playing out. Paul Goodison is the new skipper of Tudor Team Alinghi, while Giles Scott was just announced as the sailing director of American Racing Challenger Team USA. Both are on the podcast this week, and they walk Freddie through the early weeks at their new homes – what they've found, what they've inherited, and what's keeping them up at night with Naples 2027 already feeling closer than it should. What's emerging behind the scenes, though, may matter more than any individual hire. Alinghi have confirmed a design partnership with GB1, the Challenger of Record, and team director David Endean spells it out simply: with budget caps tightening and late entries scrambling to catch up, only the most prepared teams can afford to go it alone. Goodison himself admits it feels surreal – two campaigns ago, he and Freddie were sharing hotel rooms, taking design calls from opposite ends of the balcony so neither could hear. Now he's walking into the same meeting room as his rivals. And this week, America's Cup media accidentally confirmed what has been the worst-kept secret this cycle: the seventh challenger is Australia. The quote naming them has since disappeared from the official website, but not before Andy and Freddie saw it. With the cat now out of the bag, they talk through the implications for this cycle. Beyond the Cup, Freddie reports back from three days on a J-Class in Palma Bay before the TP52 season gets serious, Andy digs into French Olympic Week with special guest Alexia Lahoud, and Matt Wearn calls out Olympic sailing's media coverage from the top step of the podium. Plus a viewer question on whether the Cup's permanent backdrop of legal disputes is a feature or a bug. Follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #AmericasCup #OlympicSailing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 15m
  6. Why Ferrari Hypersail “could redefine” sailing – The Foil podcast – Ep 16

    APR 23

    Why Ferrari Hypersail “could redefine” sailing – The Foil podcast – Ep 16

    Neil Cole, Andy Rice and Freddie Carr return for the latest episode of The Foil podcast with a range of subjects to discuss. Andy has just returned from Milan where he witnessed the livery reveal for Ferrari’s amazing Hypersail project.   First up, the team tackle some audience questions, including when New Zealand’s Black Foils will return to the SailGP fleet as a new F50 takes shape in Southampton. They also discuss potential changes to the SailGP calendar in the wake of the war in the Middle East, the challenges of commentating live on events and the complexity of SailGP rules for racing.   Andy then tells us about arriving in Milan during Design Week to find out more about Ferrari’s fascinating venture into the sailing world. “The merging of automotive and maritime,” as Andy puts it. He offers some insight into the sustainability reasons why Ferrari has chosen to dive into sailing and, as Neil puts it, why this is a “moving laboratory” for new technology. Freddie suggests “It could redefine what we think sailing is”. But the team wonders, can a monohull really beat a multihull to a potential Jules Verne Around the World record?   An interview with French super-designer Guillaume Verdier – the man behind the Ferrari Hypersail – adds further detail, and he tells Andy how designers from land and sea “speak the same language” of physics.   The team then move on to the announcement made in Barcelona this week, as Tudor Team Alinghi announce their line-up for the 38th America’s Cup. “It’s an exciting line-up featuring a lot of talent,” enthuses Freddie. He and Andy then reflect on the importance of the forthcoming Road to Naples AC regatta in Sardinia.   To wrap up, Andy then offers an update on the 57th Semaine Olympique Française that is under way in Hyères this week, and Freddie tells us about how much he’s looking forward to grappling with Rainbow, the J-Class classic he’ll be helping to sail this week in Palma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 4m
  7. Rio debrief: Australia reminds everyone who’s boss - The Foil Podcast - Ep 15

    APR 17

    Rio debrief: Australia reminds everyone who’s boss - The Foil Podcast - Ep 15

    Australia's Flying Roos delivered what has to be the best single-day performance in SailGP history at Rio – and episode 15 of The Foil podcast breaks down how they did it. Andy Rice, just back from Rio, joins Freddie Carr and Neil Cole to dissect a Sunday that saw Tom Slingsby's crew take 30 points from a possible 30 in conditions that left most of the fleet scrambling. While others wrestled with the 27.5m wings in building breeze beneath Sugarloaf Mountain, Ian Jensen's wing trim calls and the team's collective calm turned chaos into a masterclass. But this wasn't just about the Aussies. The team digs into why the United States' starting technique might be the most underrated development of the season, how Emirates Great Britain went from season leaders to finishing dead last in this event, and whether SailGP's race course setup under Sugarloaf made life harder than it needed to be. There's also frank discussion about the prize money structure – with Australia's grinder Kinley Fowler watching his teammates pocket USD $400,000 without seeing a cent – and the growing uncertainty around how Season 6 will finish. With Middle East tensions threatening the Dubai and Abu Dhabi events, the conversation turns to potential replacements: Cádiz, Pensacola, or even (fingers crossed) Perth again. This episode is brought to you by Musto – the brand that's been building performance sailing gear for decades, working directly with sailors pushing boats and themselves to the limit. We wear it ourselves, on and off the water. Subscribe now and follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 11m
  8. SailGP Rio preview: tactical breakdown, home pressure, and the teams running out of time - The Foil Podcast - Ep 14

    APR 8

    SailGP Rio preview: tactical breakdown, home pressure, and the teams running out of time - The Foil Podcast - Ep 14

    SailGP heads to Rio de Janeiro for the first time ever this weekend, and the forecast suggests a tactical chess match rather than a foiling sprint. Freddie Carr, Andy Rice and Neil Cole dig into the data, the storylines, and the strategies that will decide who leaves Brazil with points. Light winds are expected throughout the weekend in Guanabara Bay, so the team looks at exactly what worked in Sydney's H2 conditions. For teams in the bottom half of the standings – Canada, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland – this is a pivotal weekend. Come away with low points and the Grand Final starts to feel very far away. We also have exclusive interviews with Brazil team owner Alan Adler and driver Martine Grael – both speaking candidly about home pressure, crew rebuilds, and the emotional weight of racing on the same water where Grael won Olympic gold. Plus: Glenn Ashby jumps onto France's SailGP F50, standing in for Leigh McMillan following his shoulder surgery. In other news, Italian executive Marzio Pirelli has been appointed CEO of the America's Cup Partnership – but the bigger story is what we still don't know. One AC40 preliminary event is locked in for Cagliari in May. Beyond that, silence until the Cup match itself. As Freddie puts it: "It's tough to be a fan and not have your season laid out ahead of you." The episode also tackles the new Olympic format – tested at Trofeo Princesa Sofia – and why it has sailors, media, and governing bodies at odds over what competitive fairness should look like heading into LA 2028. This video is brought to you by Musto – the brand that's been building performance sailing gear for decades, working directly with sailors pushing boats and themselves to the limit. We wear it ourselves, on and off the water. Subscribe now and follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. #TheFoil #WeAreTheFoil #SailGP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1h 20m

About

We are The Foil, a new wave of racing media. Founded and launched in 2026, we are a fresh, all-new, proudly independent digital media brand dedicated to the sport of sail racing. Our focus is centred around the major peaks of the international sport: SailGP, the America’s Cup and the Olympic Games, plus offshore classes and events, and the diverse wider world of sailing competitions that take place around the globe. Our mission is simple: to promote, talk about and report on the detail of an international sport that deserves a much higher profile beyond the dedicated sailing community who follow racing around the globe. We operate independently of series and event promoters and governing bodies as an impartial voice for the sport of sail racing. Subscribe to The Foil YouTube channel and follow @wearethefoil across all platforms – Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok and LinkedIn.

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