Fifteen teams entered for Youth America’s Cup

As of the initial early entry period on February 29, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron reveals that fifteen teams from twelve nations have already officially entered into the 2021 Youth America’s Cup.

Entry list:
• Argentina
• Australia (2)
• China
• Denmark
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• Netherlands
• New Zealand (2)
• Russia
• Spain
• Switzerland (2)
• USA

A late entry can be submitted up until the September 30, 2020; although subject to any space still available at that point.

“I am blown away by the interest to date and given the conversations we are still having with a number of clubs especially in Europe and the UK I am sure this will be fully subscribed soon,” reports RNZYS CEO Hayden Porter. “Once people also see the AC9F sailing the global interest level will step up a notch again.

“Being an event with gender equality at the forefront of our thinking has also proven to be popular and something that was important to us from the start. The melting pot of nations coming will also have a big economic impact for New Zealand and Auckland in particular, with many teams planning to base themselves here from the middle of this year to prepare and train for the event.”

The first AC9F, built by Yachting Developments, is being launched next week for testing.

“A lot of hard work has gone into the design and build of this first one, so to finally have it going into the water is an exciting prospect,” notes Yachting Developments owner and RNZYS Commodore Ian Cook. “We are very interested to see how it performs and moving on to build the rest of the fleet.”

The purposely designed AC9F is a scaled down 9-meter version of the foiling AC75 monohull to be used in the 36th America’s Cup. Seven are to be built for the 2020-2021 Youth America’s Cup.

Notice of Race – Entry memorandum – Information

Source: Andrew Delves, RNZYS

36th America’s Cup
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 allegedly made 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. However, it is not yet confirmed if they have paid the fee, nor is there any knowledge of a boat being actively built or sailing team training.

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 (NOT KNOWN)
February 1, 2020: Boat 2 can be launched (DELAYED)
April 23-26, 2020: First (1/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Cagliari, Sardinia
June 4-7, 2020 – Second (2/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Portsmouth, England
December 17-20 – Third (3/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Auckland, New Zealand
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