As expected the Royal Yacht Squadron has been accepted as the official Challenger of Record for the 38th America’s Cup.
A challenge by the Royal Yacht Squadron was accepted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, immediately after Emirates Team New Zealand confirmed their successful defence of the 37th America’s Cup off Barcelona on Saturday 19 October.
This together with the apparent enthusiasm of Sir Jim Ratcliffe to continue his involvement in the British America’s Cup team – although with a broader spread of sponsorship to ease the estimated £100 million plus investment required – puts Team Principal Sir Ben Ainslie’s INEOS team front and centre of the 38th challenge.
First up will be the production of the Protocol – The Protocol sets the foundations and rules of participation for all teams in the 37th America’s Cup and records the items of mutual consent.
The AC75 design, in a new Version 3 iteration, looks a shoo-in as the class yacht, although just how much more automation can be added before it becomes virtually an autonomous drone will worry some traditionalists. The smaller AC40 is already further down that road.
The other major controversial item is the event venue. A heavily cost driven item, which ETNZ Boss Grant Dalton hawked around the world for the 37th America’s Cup.
Possibly stirring the pot, Dalton is already talking of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with its significant financial support.
A return to Barcelona, with its bland sailing conditions, which did little to add an element of jeopardy to the regimented match-race format within a confined field of play . . . Basically producing a race that finished at the first mark, does not raise a lot of excitement.
No doubt the discussion on the venue will again be a major point of contention between the Kiwi team and their home country, although this long-range defence seems to have worked well for them.
