America’s Cup: What does the clock say?

The America’s Cup Defender was to reveal the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the announcement until March 31, 2022. In hopes that the hosting rights will help them finance their campaign, doing the deal has proven difficult.

After hosting the 36th edition at their home base of Auckland failed to deliver a financial windfall due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, the Defender faces more adversity in finding a friendly host partner amid a military conflict in Eastern Europe.

With the venue deadline approaching, Gerald New of SailWeb files this report from Europe:

Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton walked into a maelstrom as he arrived in Europe to inspect the short-listed venues for the defense of the 37th America’s Cup.

In the short time he has been in Europe, he must have realized that the attitude to the America’s Cup is very different to that in New Zealand, even before you add a Russian military invasion force pounding a free, democratic country into rubble, with three million people already forced to flee across Europe.

The America’s Cup has a very different status here to that which he is used to in New Zealand. Unlike the New Zealand media, the press in Europe almost totally ignores the event. And where the next America’s Cup ends up in Europe is not high on the news agenda . . . including the sports news.

Even the Brits, who started the whole shebang by losing a race round the Isle of Wight, and after 170 years are no closer to winning than when they started have little interest, especially for the horse-trading phase that is presently going on.

These factors are a problem for any potential venue involved in the bidding, as they cannot raise any enthusiasm from their governments to shell out for a commercial sailing race . . . especially one with teams backed by a bunch of billionaires, who have more than enough spare cash to fund the whole affair if they wished.

Not that New Zealand does not have its own economic and social problems as it recovers from COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, and politics and the America’s Cup are never far apart in New Zealand. – Full report

Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on November 17, 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalized on March 17, 2022. The entry period opened December 1, 2021 and runs until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup may be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the venue reveal and event dates until March 31, 2022. – https://www.americascup.com/en/home