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\nTeam New Zealand in action off Barcelona, 2024.
\nPhoto: PHOTOSPORT\n<\/p>\n
Which teams will challenge for 38th America’s Cup has become clearer six weeks out from the entry window for the 2027 event<\/a> slamming shut.<\/p>\n On Monday it was revealed which teams make up the new America’s Cup Partnership (ACP), which in turn outlined the teams with a vested interest in the future of the world’s oldest sporting competition.<\/p>\n Team New Zealand, Great Britain’s Athena Racing, Italy’s Luna Rossa, Swiss entry Team Alinghi, and France’s K-Challenge have joined forces in the ACP which is an historic agreement which marks the first time in the event’s 174-year history that competing teams have united under a shared governance and commercial structure.<\/p>\n The announcement of which teams will form the ACP follows the Protocol agreement<\/a> between defender Team New Zealand and challenger of record Athena Racing in August, which set the terms for the next America’s Cup in Naples and paved the way for ACP.<\/p>\n Since New Zealand defended<\/a> the America’s Cup in Barcelona in October last year, there has been a lot of speculation about which teams would try and take the Auld Mug off them with Team New Zealand chief executive officer Grant Dalton believing that five<\/a> was a good number of challengers.<\/p>\n The entry period for the 38th America’s Cup remains open until January 31, 2026 for teams to join ACP and the competition in Italy in 2027.<\/p>\n The five founding teams of the ACP will present further details of the partnership on 21 January in Naples with dates of the America’s Cup Match to be made public.<\/p>\n Dalton said the ACP was “preserving what makes the America’s Cup extraordinary while building a sustainable model that benefits everyone who shares our passion for this great competition”.<\/p>\n “We are securing the position of the America’s Cup at the pinnacle of innovation and professional sport for decades to come.”<\/p>\n Team principal of Athena Racing, Sir Ben Ainslie, said the ACP would ensure the America’s Cup remained “the ultimate proving ground for the world’s best sailors and technological advancements”.<\/p>\n “It allows us to continue pushing the boundaries of naval architecture and sailing technology, maintaining the Cup’s tradition as a catalyst for innovation, while providing the stability needed to grow our audience.”<\/p>\n Luna Rossa chief executive officer Max Sirena believed the ACP marked a “historic moment” for the competition.<\/p>\n “Luna Rossa has chosen to join a project aimed at ensuring stability, sustainability, and continuity for the America’s Cup, while respecting its values and its capacity for innovation. A responsible choice toward the sport, our fans, and future generations of Italian sailors,” Sirena said.<\/p>\n Team Alinghi owner Ernesto Bertarelli said the partnership was “a collective commitment to further elevating sailing on the global sporting stage”.<\/p>\n