America’s Cup: Reality show goes sailing

While four of the America’s Cup entrants have launched their first AC75 boat, the fifth team, Stars+Stripes USA, has remained silent about their status. With the clock ticking on launching a boat and crew for the first event in April 2020, we are hopeful that the following press release bodes well for their future:

(October 8, 2019) – Condé Nast Entertainment (CNE) and Stars+Stripes USA have announced a development deal today for an unscripted show that will follow the All-American sailing team of men and women as they challenge the world’s best and commit to bring the America’s Cup back to the United States.

Focused on the team’s values of inclusion, diversity and equal opportunity, the documentary series will explore the genesis of the team, the boat design and building process, the recruitment and training of athletes, and the unexpected turbulence along the way.

“We couldn’t be more excited to document the making of the first All-American team challenging for the America’s Cup in over 20 years,” said Joe LaBracio, EVP, Alternative Programming, Condé Nast Entertainment. “When we first heard Mike and Taylor’s story, we were all in.”

CNE brings its award-winning sports programming expertise to document Stars+Stripes USA’s untold story. The global studio produced “Fastest Car” and the Emmy-nominated “Last Chance U,” both of which were in the top 10 most binge-watched Netflix series of 2018.

Ahead of Condé Nast’s global expansion, CNE also produced its first international project with the release of “Cricket Fever: Mumbai Indians” earlier this year on Netflix. On the digital side, CNE and GQ launched a new YouTube channel dedicated to the lifestyle of athletes, GQ Sports.

“We are thrilled to have Condé Nast Entertainment tell our story to the world about the making of our campaign from the inside, how we deal with challenges with fundraising and sponsorship, the state-of-the-art technology that is needed to compete, and the personal stories of our American athletes,” said Tricia Wilber, Special Advisor to the Stars+Stripes USA CEO Mike Buckley.

Co-founded by world champion sailors Buckley and Taylor Canfield, Stars+Stripes USA’s mission is to build an inclusive, authentic, All-American team to win the America’s Cup while showing the world that diversity is a competitive advantage.

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 were also accepted. Here’s the 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) – WITHDRAW
• Stars & Stripes Team USA (USA)
• DutchSail (NED) – WITHDRAW

Of the three late entries, only Stars+Stripes USA remains committed, but they still must complete the entry fee payment process before they will be eligible to race. They have already paid their initial payment but as a late entry challenger under the Protocol they also have a liability to pay a US$1million late entry fee due in installments by October 1, 2019. This deadline coincides with the venue schedule which has the construction of their team base beginning in late 2019, which we assume was done in the event the team is unable to fulfill their payment deadline. It is not yet confirmed if they have paid the fee.

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 events (CANCELLED)
October 1, 2019: US$1million late entry fee deadline
February 1, 2020: Boat 2 can be launched
April 23-26, 2020: First America’s Cup World Series event in Cagliari, Sardinia.
During 2020: 3 x America’s Cup World Series 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

AC75 launch dates:
September 6 – Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Boat 1
September 10 – American Magic (USA), Boat 1; actual launch date earlier but not released
October 2 – Luna Rossa (ITA), Boat 1
October 4 – INEOS Team UK (GBR), Boat 1

Details: www.americascup.com