Riptide Racing aims for America’s Cup

In the history of the America’s Cup, there has always been a USA competitor. This record has been teetering since American Magic (USA) revealed they would not return for their third campaign, but a new effort is trying to bring the country back to the table:

Riptide Racing is excited to announce, in partnership with Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (Oyster Bay, NY), our attempt to challenge for the 38th America’s Cup in 2027.

After discussions with supporters, investors, and partners, we feel we can mount a challenge and secure enough initial backing to meet our funding timeline within the Late Entry Deadline of January 31, 2026.

While the challenge of the America’s Cup is an incredibly difficult one, we have been in discussion with the America’s Cup regarding the Protocol, America’s Cup Partnership, and the fundamentals for entering the America’s Cup. We believe the rules and protocol in place today make our challenge achievable.

Our mission in this initial campaign is to assemble a winning high-performance team around World #1 Match Race skipper Chris Poole, as well as develop advanced cutting-edge technologies and strategies that will help position us to compete at the highest level in the 38th America’s Cup in 2027.

Chris Poole

“To compete in the America’s Cup has always been a dream and my goal when we created Riptide Racing,” says Poole, Riptide Racing’s CEO & Skipper. “Our focus is to take our winning formula and bring it to the pinnacle of yacht racing.

“The USA has been immersed in the America’s Cup since the beginning, and in recent years the shift to foiling has opened new opportunities for sailors, and brought in new followers to the Cup.

“With the possible absence of an American team in the next Cup, the country involved in the competition’s founding, there’s an opportunity for new American sailors like the team from Riptide Racing to continue the campaign and bring the Auld Mug back to the United States.”

The target plan is to acquire an existing America’s Cup AC75 package and support assets from one of the America’s Cup teams. This approach provides our team with immediate access to proven assets, design data, and infrastructure – positioning us to compete at a high level from the outset.

To achieve this plan, we have set a fundraising goal of $50 million dollars for our first challenge, as we believe this will get us on the starting line in competitive form for the 38th America’s Cup. Joining the fundraising effort of this campaign will be the team’s partner 501c3 foundation, The American Sailboat Racing Foundation, which has supported Riptide Racing in past fundraising efforts.

The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club is no stranger to the America’s Cup, although it has been over 100 years since its name last graced America’s Cup news when the ‘Seawanhaka Rule’ was used from 1893-1903.

“We are excited to support Chris Poole and Riptide Racing in their effort to try and challenge for the 38th America’s Cup,” says Seawanhaka Commodore Julian Fisher. “Riptide Racing has been the number one team in match racing for the past four years, and as we all know, the America’s Cup is still a match race. The Club will do everything it can to support Chris and his team to get this challenge off the ground by the January 31, 2026 Entry Deadline.”

More details about our challenge and who will be involved will be made public in the coming weeks on the team’s website. Our initial focus now is on securing our target funding goal through individual and corporate support to go ahead with the challenge by January 31st, 2026.

Riptide Racing: https://www.riptideracing.com

Details: https://www.americascup.com/

Defender New Zealand and Challenger of Record from Great Britain confirmed the Protocol for the 38th America’s Cup on August 12, 2025. No additional challenge entries have yet been revealed, while American Magic will not compete.

The close of the initial entry period was October 31, 2025, with late entries considered up to January 31, 2026. If no USA team participates in the 38th America’s Cup, it will be the first time in the event’s 175-year history.

After the 2024 event, Barcelona, Spain declined hosting another edition, with the venue moved to Naples, Italy . Racing will be in the spring and summer of 2027.