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Everything you need to know about the 37th America’s Cup
Follow all the latest insight, analysis and reports from the 37th America’s Cup as teams fight it out to win the oldest International trophy in sport.
Which teams are in the 37th America’s Cup?
In 2021 four teams raced in fully foiling AC75 monohulls which were conceived specifically for the event by then Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand and Challenger of Record, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
These same four teams have returned for the 2024 America’s Cup and are by joined by two additional teams, bringing the total number of entries up to 6.
Emirates Team New Zealand – America’s Cup Defender
As the current holder of the America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand will be racing again in the 37th America’s Cup. As the Defender, the Kiwis are guaranteed a spot in the America’s Cup regatta itself.
Any other challengers will need to race each other in the Louis Vuitton Cup to win the right to be the single challenger in the America’s Cup regatta itself.
Emirates Team New Zealand represent the Royal Auckland Yacht Club in America’s Cup racing.
tight racing between the British and the French. Photo: Ricardo Pinto / America’s Cup
INEOS Britannia – America’s Cup Challenger of Record
The Challenger of Record is the name given to the first yacht club to challenge the holder of the America’s Cup once it has been won.
When Emirates Team New Zealand successfully completed their defence of the America’s Cup in 2021, the Royal Yacht Squadron immediately issued a challenge on behalf of Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Team UK (now called INEOS Britannia), so they are Challenger of Record for the 37th America’s Cup .
INEOS Britannia and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team has strengthened an exhausting relationship, with the British challenger standing to benefit from the technical and engineering experience of the multiple World Champion F1 team.
Photo: Job Vermeulen/America’s Cup
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli has a very long America’s Cup history having first competed in 2000 and has taken part in every Cup since (with the exception of the unique 2010 Deed of Gift match).
For the 36th America’s Cup Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli were the challenger of record. They also won the challenger selection series so it was this Italian team who took on Emirates Team New Zealand for the America’s Cup itself.
The team has returned for the 37th America’s Cup though this time they are not the official challenger of record.
Photo: Ian Roman / America’s Cup
American Magic
Eliminated in the louis vuitton cup semi-final.
In 2021 the New York Yacht Clubs’ American Magic was also competing, though their event was ultimately ruined by a capsize in the early part of the regatta . They did get the boat rebuilt but it never got back up to speed and they made an early exit.
The 2021 campaign marked the return of the New York Yacht Club to the America’s Cup. The NYYC held the America’s Cup from its inception in 1851 right the way through to 1983, when they were defeated by the Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Australia II .
American Magic are, once again, representing the New York Yacht Club in the 2024 America’s Cup
The Alinghi Red Bull Racing AC75 was first to launch and has one of the most radical hull shapes. Photo: Olaf Pignataro/Alinghi Red Bull Racing
Alinghi Red Bull Racing
Another team making a return to the America’s Cup scene after a long break will be Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi team. The Swiss team won the America’s Cup in 2003 and then completed a successful defence in 2007.
However, a serious falling out over the potential rules for the next America’s Cup saw Alinghi taken to court by Larry Ellison and his BMW Oracle team, the 2010 America’s Cup was held between Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing in a Deed of Gift match that saw the teams fight it out in huge multihulls.
BMW Oracle won the contest and Alinghi stepped away from America’s Cup racing.
Alinghi’s return was a welcome one and their Cup history alongside their partnership with Red Bull Racing should have seen them a solid challenge from the off. Unfortunately the complexity of the AC75s is clear and this team had too much to do to catch up to those involved in the 2021 Cup.
Alinghi was eliminated from the competition by INEOS Britannia in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi-Final.
Orient Express Racing Team
Eliminated louis vuitton cup round robin series.
The French entry to the 2024 America’s Cup was long rumoured but it was not until quite late in the day that they officially announced their intention to challenge.
It was in early 2023 that the official announcement came of a French AC entry, backed by Accor Group and its brands Orient Express and ALL-ACCOR Live Limitless.
As a fairly late challenge they will had a lot to do to be competitive, but they struck a great – and controversial – deal with Team New Zealand to buy their boat design, so were able to skip a few steps on the learning curve.
Ultimately the French team did better than many expected, but their comparative lack of AC75 experience saw them knocked out in the first found of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
What boats are in the 37th America’s Cup
The class of boat to be used in the 2024 America’s Cup is once again the AC75 . These boats were first brought in ahead of the 36th America’s Cup so this will be their second outing.
The foiling monohulls are slightly different in 2024, with rules being tweaked partly aimed at improving light wind performance and reducing crew numbers from 11 to 8.
Teams are only be allowed to build one AC75 and nationality rules are strict this time around requiring 100% of the race crew for each competitor to either be a passport holder of the country of the team’s yacht club or to have been physically present in that country for 18 months of the previous three years prior to 17th March 2021.
Emirates Team New Zealand saw success in 2017 in Bermuda with their Cyclors . Having been banned in 2021, these have made a return for the 37th America’s Cup.
Barcelona, the venue for the 37th America’s Cup
Where is the 37th America’s Cup held?
Barcelona, Spain was selected in 2022 as the venue for the 37th America’s Cup , marking the first time a New Zealand team has chosen to defend a Cup win overseas.
The home city of Emirates Team New Zealand and the venue for the 36th America’s Cup, Auckland, had an exclusive period in which to tender for the regatta immediately after the Kiwis’ successful defence in 2021, but the sums on offer were not enough, and Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton cast the net wider internationally after rejecting a NZ$99 million (£50 million) offer from the New Zealand government.
A number venues were mooted including: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Cork, Ireland; Malaga, Spain, but Barcelona eventually won out.
When is the 37th America’s Cup?
The America’s Cup will be held in 2024 in Barcelona. Racing in the 37th America’s Cup Match itself, which is a best of 13 (first to seven) format will start on Saturday 12th October 2024 and could run all the way to the 27th October should all the races be needed to pick a winner.
The America’s Cup will be proceeded by the challenger selection series, which will see which of the five challengers gets the honour to race New Zealand for the Cup itself.
Racing for the Challenger Selection Series – officially the Louis Vuitton Cup, will take place between the 29 August 2024 and 7 October 2024.
Match Racing
Though the America’s Cup was first raced for in 1851 ( and won by the schooner America from which the trophy gets its name), this race was between a fleet of boats. A challenge by the British in the 1870s was also conducted as a fleet race.
By the 1880s, following a protest from the British, the America’s Cup was decided in a head-to-head match race where two boats sail against each other.
Match racing is a particular skill and encourages aggressive manoeuvres using the rules to put your opponent at a disadvantage. This cut-and-thrust racing, where the only objective is to beat your opponent, has long been at the heart of America’s Cup racing and produces a thrilling spectacle.
You can catch all the latest America’s Cup news, analysis and videos right here on Yachtingworld.com
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LOUIS VUITTON 37TH AMERICA’S CUP RACING SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
The dates for the Preliminary Regatta, Louis Vuitton Cup and the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match have now been released with racing getting underway for the four-day Preliminary Regatta starting on the 22nd of August 2024.
The key dates for the Louis Vuitton 37 th America’s Cup are as follows:
- Preliminary Regatta: 22 nd - 25 th August
- Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robins: 29 th August- 8 th September
- Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Finals: 14 th – 19 th September
- Louis Vuitton Cup Finals: 26 th September- 5 th October
- Louis Vuitton 37 th America’s Cup Match: 12 th October- 21 st October
It will be an intense 3-month racing period for the America’s Cup teams whilst for the Youth & Women’s teams, their separate events will be preceded by long days of official training before their racing begins in earnest.
All six America’s Cup teams will contest the Preliminary Regatta 22nd – 25 th August and this will be the first time the new AC75’s will line up to provide some vital performance insight between the teams.
Just four days later, as written in the Protocol governing the 37 th America’s Cup, the Louis Vuitton Cup will begin with two Round Robins which begin on the 29 th of August 2024, with all six competing teams racing, including the Defender. The double Round Robin racing is scheduled to finish on the 8 th of September and will be the last time the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, will race the against the Challengers before the Louis Vuitton 37 th America’s Cup Match.
However, importantly, according to the Protocol the results from all races during the Round Robin stage between a Challenger and the Defender will not count towards the semi-final rankings. Which means, the top four Challengers will advance through to the Louis Vuitton Semi Finals stage, while the first challenging team is eliminated.
The top qualifier will select their semi-final opponent and in each half of the semi-final draw it’s a first-to-five, best of nine race format.
There can be no room for error from the Challengers, no off days. The schedule rewards consistency and the opportunity to select your opponent after finishing top at the series conclusion of the second Round Robin is immense.
The Louis Vuitton Cup Final will see the winning semi-finalists battle it out for the right to face Emirates Team New Zealand in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match after a best-of-thirteen (first to seven) series.
The format for the Louis Vuitton 37 th America’s Cup Match itself is also a best-of-thirteen races (first to seven) with an expected conclusion by the 21 st October 2024. (Reserve days are scheduled for the 22 nd October through to 27 th October if required.)
Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand and America’s Cup Events (ACE) gave his perspective on the format saying: “This is almost certainly the highest Challenger standard seen in the America’s Cup in the past 25 years and the winner will be battle-hardened having come through the white-hot intensity of the Louis Vuitton Cup. For Emirates Team New Zealand, we will have seen the competitiveness early in the Round Robin stage, but it will be a very different and interesting challenge for us to overcome when it comes to the Louis Vuitton 37 th America’s Cup Match. It’s going to be a classic Cup contest.”
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Running alongside the 37 th America’s Cup schedule, America’s Cup Events (ACE) can also announce the scheduling for both the Youth and Puig Women’s America’s Cup regattas. The key dates are as follows:
- Youth America’s Cup: 17 th - 26 th September
- Puig Women’s America’s Cup: 5 th - 13 th October
The racing and training schedule for each event runs along the same format with Official Practice preceding the race days before the fleet in each respective regatta is split into two groups of six boats for an eight race opening series. The fleet cut will follow with the top six teams advancing to a four-race fleet-race to decide the top two boats in each series.
The Youth America’s Cup final – a one race, winner-takes-all shoot out is scheduled to take place between Races 1 and Race 2 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final on the 26 th September 2024. The Final of the Puig Women’s America’s Cup is initially scheduled to be held in between Race 3 and Race 4 of the Louis Vuitton 37 th America’s Cup Match on the 13 th October 2024.
Speaking about the scheduling of both finals, Grant Dalton added: “This is maximum global exposure for our Youth & Women’s finalists. It will be a very tough regatta to win where the full range of racing disciplines will be tested to the max. The winners in each event will be catapulted onto the world stage and for sure, we will see future legends of the America’s Cup coming to the fore. It’s an exciting but demanding format that’s been designed to test the athletes to the maximum.”
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