Team updates for 36th America’s Cup

Jack Griffin of CupExperience News provides an update on the four active teams preparing for the 36th America’s Cup:

• Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL): The lockdown in NZ cost the team about six calendar weeks of sailing time. Their first AC75 was already en route to Italy when the Cagliari AC World Series was cancelled, and the yacht is still in Italy. Construction of their second AC75 was held up for five weeks and restarted on Tuesday 28 April. They resumed on-the-water development with their 12 meter test boat Te Kahu (The Hawk) on 29 April.

• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (ITA): Luna Rossa made repairs to their AC75 after losing the bowsprit the last time they trained. They have now installed electric motors in their AC75 to replace six grinders so they could resume on the water testing while respecting distancing requirements.

• New York YC American Magic (USA): American Magic has not sailed either their test “mule” or their AC75 Defiant since mid March. The AC75 was packed for shipping to Cagliari and then re-commissioned for sailing when the ACWS was cancelled. They will begin sailing again when they deem it safe. In the meantime construction of Boat 2 continues in Rhode Island. They plan to air freight Boat 2 to Auckland in late August. Defiant will likely go by ship to Auckland – a 35 day journey.

• INEOS Team UK (GBR): The team has not sailed since moving back to Portsmouth from Sardinia. We can be sure that the sailors are spending a lot of time on their AC75 simulator and in the gym. It’s likely that their Boat 2 is well advanced in construction.

36th America’s Cup
In addition to Challenges from Italy, USA, and Great Britain that were accepted during the initial entry period (January 1 to June 30, 2018), eight additional Notices of Challenge were received by the late entry deadline on November 30, 2018. Of those eight submittals, entries from Malta, USA, and the Netherlands were also accepted. Here’s the list:

Defender:
• Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)

Challengers:
• Luna Rossa (ITA) – Challenger of Record
• American Magic (USA)
• INEOS Team UK (GBR)
• Malta Altus Challenge (MLT) – WITHDRAW
• Stars + Stripes Team USA (USA)
• DutchSail (NED) – WITHDRAW

Of the three late entries, only Stars+Stripes USA remains committed, but they still must complete the entry fee payment process before they will be eligible to race. They have allegedly made their initial payment but as a late entry challenger under the Protocol, they also have a liability to pay a US$1million late entry fee due in installments by October 1, 2019. However, it is not yet confirmed if they have paid the fee, nor is there any knowledge of a boat being actively built or sailing team training.

Key America’s Cup dates:
✔ September 28, 2017: 36th America’s Cup Protocol released
✔ November 30, 2017: AC75 Class concepts released to key stakeholders
✔ January 1, 2018: Entries for Challengers open
✔ March 31, 2018: AC75 Class Rule published
✔ June 30, 2018: Entries for Challengers close
✔ August 31, 2018: Location of the America’s Cup Match and The PRADA Cup confirmed
✔ August 31, 2018: Specific race course area confirmed
✔ November 30, 2018: Late entries deadline
✔ March 31, 2019: Boat 1 can be launched (DELAYED)
✔ 2nd half of 2019: 2 x America’s Cup World Series events (CANCELLED)
✔ October 1, 2019: US$1million late entry fee deadline (NOT KNOWN)
✔ February 1, 2020: Boat 2 can be launched (DELAYED)
✔ April 23-26, 2020: First (1/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Cagliari, Sardinia (CANCELLED)
✔ June 4-7, 2020: Second (2/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Portsmouth, England (CANCELLED)
December 17-20: Third (3/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Auckland, New Zealand
January 15-February 22, 2021: The PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series
March 6-15, 2021: The America’s Cup Match

AC75 launch dates:
September 6 – Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Boat 1
September 10 – American Magic (USA), Boat 1; actual launch date earlier but not released
October 2 – Luna Rossa (ITA), Boat 1
October 4 – INEOS Team UK (GBR), Boat 1

Details: www.americascup.com