Emirates Team New Zealand defended the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in style and accepted the trophy with class and grace officially at the main stage of the Race Village this Saturday evening.
The future of the event will be announced in “due course,” according to Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Event and Emirates Team New Zealand, with the tradition being for a challenge to be issued as soon as the winning boat crosses the finish line of the last race.
While the defender for the next America’s Cup will be New Zealand, the known unknowns include the format, the venue, and the type of boat to be raced although another iteration of the AC75 is likely front runner.
British team backer Sir Jim Ratcliffe recently indicated to ‘Telegraph Sport’ that he would be prepared to continue to back the British America’s Cup team, but expected to bring in other sponsors in the way that his Formula One team operates.
Editor Note . . . It has since been confirmed that the Royal Yacht Squadron has been accepted as the official Challenger of Record for the 38th America’s Cup.
While this has still to be finalised, British Skipper Ben Ainslie said he was pleased to hear about his backer’s comments and the key thing was to retain all that knowledge and to keep the core group together.
.
