America’s Cup: British invasion arrives

(October 1, 2020) – The second race boat built by INEOS TEAM UK in their bid to win the 36th America’s Cup has landed in Auckland, New Zealand.

The new 75-foot boat, code-named RB2, touched down at 20:55PM New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) at Auckland Airport before heading to the team’s newly constructed base in the City of Sails’ famous Viaduct, for her final pre-sail fit out.

The long journey started on September 25 via truck from the team’s HQ in Portsmouth to Stansted Airport. RB2 then began her four-day Antonov cargo plane flight on September 28. The flight, which saw RB2 travel over 12,200 miles, included over 24 hours in the air and two stopovers in Dubai and Indonesia.

“Having last seen our new race boat in Portsmouth several weeks ago, it’s very exciting for both me and the entire team to finally have her here with us in Auckland,” shared INEOS TEAM UK CEO Grant Simmer. “This is a real milestone moment for us in our challenge for the 36th America’s Cup which is now only a few months away.

“We are ready to get to work on RB2 and get her ready for sailing operations to begin. I would like to thank Project Director Dave Endean and the team for getting RB2 built and safely transported to New Zealand on schedule. It’s been an incredible effort from the entire team.”

The team’s first AC75, Britannia I, is on her way to Auckland on a ship but has yet to arrive.

The British team is chasing Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) and American Magic (USA) which are currently training in Auckland on their first boats, while Luna Rossa (ITA) hopes to have their #1 and #2 boats at the venue by late October.

Source: ITUK

Details: www.americascup.com

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• Malta Altus Challenge (MLT) – WITHDRAWN
• Stars + Stripes Team USA (USA)
• DutchSail (NED) – WITHDRAWN

Of the three late entries, only Stars+Stripes USA remains committed, however, it is unclear what entry payments have been made, nor is there knowledge of a boat being actively built or sailing team assembled.

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 (CANCELLED)
✔ June 4-7, 2020: Second (2/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Portsmouth, England (CANCELLED)
• December 17-20, 2020: Third (3/3) America’s Cup World Series event in Auckland, New Zealand
• January 15-February 22, 2021: The PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series
• March 6-15, 2021: The America’s Cup Match

Youth America’s Cup Competition (CANCELLED)
• February 18-23, 2021
• March 1-5, 2021
• March 8-12, 2021

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