The prospect of an America’s Cup in Naples in 2028 with nary an American team in the lineup appeared to be a reality with the exit of the New York YC’s American Magic syndicate. It would have been a first in the regatta’s 175-year run. The shuttering of American Magic’s Cup operations in Pensacola, however, ultimately opened a door for the late comers of the American Racing Challenge Team USA, which announced its challenge last week.
Sailing under the burgee of from Rhode Island’s Sail Newport, the non-profit community sailing center across the harbor from New York YC’s Harbor Court, the team is led by Ken Read, local favorite, Hall of Famer, and outgoing president of North Sails.
According to the team’s announcement, which confirmed its challenge had been accepted by the defender Emirates Team New Zealand, finances for the campaign will come from co-founder and chairman, Karel Komarek, a Czechoslovakian “entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist” and his partner, Chris Welch, of Great Britain, described by team as a “sports entrepreneur, investor, and commercial dealmaker operating at the intersection of global sport, capital, and premium brands.”
Komarek, a North Sails customer with is Maxi Yacht V, stated in the team’s announcement that the America’s Cup “represents the pinnacle of sailing innovation, performance, and international competition. We are proud to bring an American contender back to the forefront of this historic event. This is a decision we have approached with great care and clear intent: we would only move forward with the right partners in place.”
The Cup game is far different today than it was in Read’s era of helming Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes in 2000 and 2003, so don’t expect him to be at the helming an AC75. That’s reserved for the modern-day foiling prodigies, a bench of which the has to announce or build. In multiple interviews Read has said the goal would be to tap into the U.S. pipeline of high-performance and Olympic sailors but is “under no illusion about the challenges ahead and we’re fully focused on building a team that can win the Cup.”
The team has acquired essential assets from American Magic, including the AC75 Patriot and its two AC40s. In an interview with Scuttlebutt Sailing News, Read shared that they also taken ownership of the team’s intellectual property, its simulator, masts, foils and other essentials. The AC75, he says, “is in perfect shape” but still must be heavily modified to meet new AC75 tech regulations, which includes sophisticated battery systems that will replace the cyclors of AC37. The to-do list is long, but Read adds that they have the team at American Magic Services in Pensacola at their disposal, including boatbuilders, technicians and engineers. His expectation is that sailing operations will commence in the Fall.
The entry of American Racing Challenge brings the challenger field to four, including Athena Racing, the British Challenger of Record, Luna Rossa, which has lured to its roster former New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling, Tudor Team Alinghi, which exited the Barcelona Cup in its early stages, and the French syndicate of La Roche-Posay Racing Team, which has one cycle under its belt and two experienced helmsman in Quentin Delapierre and Enzo Balanger (who helped the teams AC40 for the Youth America’s Cup).
