Is the America’s Cup still the sports’ most coveted trophy?

The Yacht Racing Forum, the leading annual conference for the business of sailing and yacht racing, will be held December 7-8 in Geneva, Switzerland. In Facebook postings, the organizers are questioning whether the changes to the America’s Cup have gone too far…

Many rules have been changed over the past months, including the “Constructed in Country” principle. For the past 158 years, the yachts competing had to be built in the country they represented. This is not the case anymore.

The latest version of the Protocol for the 35th America’s Cup has been modified to eliminate the fundamental requirement for the yachts to be constructed in the country of the Challenger or Defender.

This used to be a major feature of the America’s Cup, and one of the only elements that was linking the team to the country it represented.

The new rule requires a 2.7m piece or approximately 18% of the overall length of the 15 meter wingsailed catamaran yacht to be built in the country of origin for the yacht to be eligible for the America’s Cup.

We all know that the crew members and skippers have nothing to do with the nationality they supposedly represent, so what’s left of this?

One of the latest twists is even harder to understand: the teams involved in the next AC are strictly banned from competing in the Extreme Sailing Series.

One wonders if the America’s Cup management (ACEA) isn’t getting slightly nervous about organizing an event like any other event, with small boats sailed by a small number of crewmembers and no nationality requirements whatsoever…

What’s the difference between the Cup and any other event? Hopefully, some members of the America’s Cup management will join the Yacht Racing Forum and tell us what differentiates THE Cup from any other sailing event!