The first full season of the 69F has come to an end, and thankfully the offseason will be short because the foiling community can’t wait to get back out on the water. 69F has been a sensation in 2021, from early February to mid-November when the curtain came down on the season with the scintillating performances of the 69F PRO CUP.

Two high-level racing circuits introduced hundreds of sailors to the thrills and spills of foiling over more than a hundred race days in 2021. The future of the sport, the Under-25 sailors in the Youth Foiling Gold Cup challenged each other in Gaeta, Limone and Cagliari and Team DutchSail – Janssen de Jong dominated the entire circuit and deservedly claimed the overall championship. They won a season pass to join the other foiling sailors in the Persico 69F Cup, the other parallel championship, open to enthusiastic amateurs and pros alike.

What makes the 69F’s boats unique today is that it can thrill and excite top-level professional sailors like America’s Cup helmsman Checco Bruni, while also providing an approachable introduction to flying over the waves. To further aid the introduction to the new era of our sport, the 69F Academy is a bespoke foiling school with qualified coaches, rigorous training sessions and perfectly prepared boats. The Academy was in session in 2021 and is currently running winter training sessions in Valencia until March 2022, if you want to come and get a jump on the competition in either the YFGC or the 69F Cup!

While sailing in the waters off Valencia, think about the America’s Cup and know that you’re training on the old racecourses but also on a foiling platform that challenged the best sailors from the bigger flying monohulls. Indeed, America’s Cup and Sail GP sailors Checco Bruni and Phil Robertson joined up with Tokyo Olympic gold medallists Ruggero Tita, Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell for the season finale, the inaugural 69F PRO CUP. Sailors who ordinarily race at the highest levels, on yachts that are at the bleeding edge of technological innovation, enthusiastically praised both the 69F and the race formats. Receiving such an enthusiastic thumbs up from the stars validates the hard work by the class to modernise sailing through high-tech boats, innovative race rules and modern regulations on gender equity. The stars enjoyed the foiling sensations, but they were put on notice by the young future champions in their midst as Team DutchSail – Janssen de Jong again demonstrated their superior boat speed and handling to win the Pro Cup in Sferracavallo, Sicily.

The protocol of the 37th edition of the America’s Cup has only confirmed the insights that 69F has already put into practice in the Under-25 circuit, instituting the woman on board rule and encouraging the participation of all-female crews, such as Equal Sailing, the project of Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich. Team 69F is delighted with these successes. It will continue to contribute to the world of foiling, both at an amateur level with the “foiling for all” concept, and at the highest levels of international sailing. The Persico 69F, AC40, and AC75 all draw from the same inspiration and now provide a consistent career path from one to the other.