How sailing became stirring, stylish – and straight-up sexy

THIRTY-ODD YEARS AGO, British Esquire compared sailing to Formula 1 racing. According to the Brits, it wasn’t only water that separated the two sports; it was also sailing’s lack of speed, excitement, and sex appeal. That was not entirely wrong. Back then, much of sail racing involved waiting for small puffs of wind to move multimillion-dollar boats above walking pace. As an exclusive sport, it left many cold. But just over a decade ago, something nearly miraculous happened.

With the advent of foiling in 2012, racing yachts gained the seemingly gravity-defying ability to rise above the surface of the water and into the air. The boats ride on thin struts called foiling arms that create lift in the water, much like an airplane wing does in the sky. Instead of chugging through the waves, these boats could suddenly fly over them. The drag of the water on the hull was reduced to almost nothing, and boat speeds rose exponentially. Sailing teams harnessed this new technology to find the perfect balance of wind and machine. Nowhere was the new technology more advanced than in the hotly contested — and hugely well-funded — America’s Cup, the oldest competitive trophy in sport.

When all is in harmony, sailing is quite spectacular to watch; top speeds regularly reach nearly 60 miles per hour. This may not seem fast relative to other sports, but imagine an eight-story building passing you doing 60.

When the balance is off, the results can be even more spectacular — and occasionally disastrous. This knife-edge, thrills-and-spills combination makes for great TV. Think of it as the excitement of Formula 1 (there’s that comparison again), but with the added risk of drowning. Even Ferrari announced in January its intention to get into competitive yacht racing. And for the next iteration of the America’s Cup, the 37th, big fashion is in on the game, too.

Following a seven-year-long hiatus, the biggest fashion brand in the world, Louis Vuitton, is reentering the sport. As with any successful sporting event these days, there’s plenty of top-notch merch. The maison has created a Louis Vuitton Cup capsule collection, a high-fashion take on nautical style, set to hit stores in mid-July.

Then there’s Prada, which has been connected to the America’s Cup since the ’90s. The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli crew are kitted out in a silver-gray collaboration with Woolmark that matches the colours of their yacht, AC75, which none other than Miuccia Prada christened recently. The gear looks suitably high-tech but is, in fact, made largely from Merino wool, known for its water resistance, breathability, and natural stretch. A commercial interpretation of these technical garments will be available down the line.

American outerwear brand Belstaff, which celebrates its centenary this year, is a sponsor of Sir Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Britannia team. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. To mark the occasion, the British brand has created a futuristic, performance-heavy capsule­, the Belstaff Challenger Collection, available in stores in mid-June.

Timing is everything in the America’s Cup, and sailing more generally, and watches have long been closely involved with the competition as both team and overall sponsors. Omega is the official timekeeper of the America’s Cup in 2024, and it also sponsors the Emirates Team New Zealand. Tudor is on board with Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the Swiss challenger, which has won the cup twice, in 2003 and 2007. The Italian watchmaker Panerai is, logically enough, the watch sponsor of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and in April launched a whole family of watches inspired by the team as part of its beefy Submersible line.