America’s Cup: Young Cuppers Regroup

by Dave Reed, Sailing World
On this day in late April, Mike Buckley, the newly-appointed interim CEO of Stars + Stripes Team USA is back in his apartment in New York City’s Soho, virtually surrounded by money and opportunity in the economic epicenter that never sleeps. He’s been on the road for a few weeks, but it’s good to be back. The city’s hustle and bustle, and smell of success is everywhere he looks. He takes comfort in being surrounded by everyday Americans making things happen.

If only he could get his hands on a piece of this global cash flow that’s right under his nose—just a small piece in the grand scheme of things—we’d be having a different conversation. We wouldn’t be talking about a half-built multimillion-dollar America’s Cup raceboat waiting for an injection of cash or a build team eager to finish what they started. We wouldn’t be dancing around an answer to the undeniable and fast-approaching moment of truth for the All-American America’s Cup challenger.

Nope. We’d talking about when they’d be sailing their AC75 this summer, what they’re learning from the simulator, or even who is on the sailing team.

If only. Just a pile of millions more.

These are challenging days for Buckley and his co-founder Taylor Canfield who moonlights with the American SailGP squad in San Francisco while Buckley pounds pavement to keep their All-American AC team alive. A few weeks earlier, some of the team’s management gave up the ship, placing the campaign back into Buckley and Canfield’s hands to run with. He’s a self-described dreamer, and over the phone, he’s genuine when he confirms he’s not giving up on a young Cup campaign in serious need of an angel investor.

The team’s host yacht club toed the same line, countering rumors of the team’s demise with a statement in late March that read, “Long Beach Yacht Club’s Challenge for the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada, Stars + Stripes USA, has not withdrawn from the America’s Cup and has no plans to do so.” – Full story

In addition to Challenges from Italy, USA, and Great Britain that were accepted during the initial entry period (January 1 to June 30, 2018), eight additional Notices of Challenge were received by the late entry deadline on November 30, 2018. Of those eight submittals, entries from Malta, USA, and The Netherlands have also been accepted. Here’s the current list:

Defender:
• Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL)

Challengers:
• Luna Rossa (ITA) – Challenger of Record
• American Magic (USA)
• INEOS Team UK (GBR)
• Malta Altus Challenge (MLT)
• Stars & Stripes Team USA (USA)
• DUTCHSAIL (NED)

Key America’s Cup dates:
✔ September 28, 2017: 36th America’s Cup Protocol released
✔ November 30, 2017: AC75 Class concepts released to key stakeholders
✔ January 1, 2018: Entries for Challengers open
✔ March 31, 2018: AC75 Class Rule published
✔ June 30, 2018: Entries for Challengers close
✔ August 31, 2018: Location of the America’s Cup Match and The PRADA Cup confirmed
✔ August 31, 2018: Specific race course area confirmed
✔ November 30, 2018: Late entries deadline
✔ March 31, 2019: Boat 1 can be launched (DELAYED)
✔ 2nd half of 2019: 2 x America’s Cup World Series Preliminary Events (CANCELLED)
February 1, 2020: Boat 2 can be launched
During 2020: 3 x America’s Cup World Series Preliminary Events
December 10-20, 2020: America’s Cup Christmas Race
January and February 2021: The PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series
March 2021: The America’s Cup Match

Details: www.americascup.com