It’s hard to know whether or not to be surprised by American Magic’s decision not to participate in the 38th America’s Cup.
Ahead of the first deadline for entries, the American syndicate, who first challenged in Auckland in 2021, confirmed they would not be submitting their paperwork. They do have the late entry deadline of late January to change their minds, but for now, the 2027 regatta in Naples looks set to become the first in the 175-year history of the America’s Cup to be without an American team competing.
Throughout the early stages of the build-up for the Naples event, the Americans have been non-committal on their future in the competition; not willing to make a call one way or another until the protocol and class rule were in place.
Add in the America’s Cup partnership – a groundbreaking initiative that will give every competing team a seat at the table for event planning and management – and there was plenty to mull over.
During the wait for a finalised protocol, American Magic were among the teams to hit out at defenders Emirates Team New Zealand for a lack of transparency in proceedings, joining Swiss syndicate Alinghi and British Challenger of Record Athena Racing.
Given their hesitancy, it hasn’t come as a shock to see the representative from the New York Yacht Club take a step back.
American Magic were understood to have been involved in contributing suggestions toward the new protocol. While the development of the protocol is usually spearheaded by the defender and Challenger of Record, it is understood a more collaborative approach was taken for the event in Naples and several items in the document, such as a relaxed nationality rule, were added in ink because of this.
In regards to the America’s Cup partnership, New York Yacht Club commodore Jay Cross said: “We are completely supportive of the move to modernise the oldest sporting trophy in the world.”
But announcing their decision not to compete in Naples, American Magic team principal Doug DeVos said the structure of the event did not “provide the framework for American Magic to operate a highly competitive and financially sustainable campaign for the 38th America’s Cup”.
The New York Yacht Club and American Magic did not respond when contacted by the Herald for more information about their decision.
Italian challengers Luna Rossa and French outfit K-Challenge are expected to return as both teams have begun AC40 sailing. Alinghi indicated they would not be back, but there is hope that they could yet return.
American Magic’s exit could, however, now make a new entry a more realistic proposition.
The protocol allows new teams to purchase an existing AC75 rather than building their own one and, given American Magic don’t appear to be using theirs, it would be a major asset for a new team to get their hands on if they were willing to sell. Leading into the event in Barcelona last year, there was plenty of discussion around how fast the Americans looked and their AC75 could give a new team a head start.
The other side of that is there is now a lot of talent available on the free market. Tom Slingsby, Paul Goodison and Lucas Calabrese all have experience at the helm of an AC75; the likes of Andrew Campbell, Michael Menninger and Riley Gibbs all spending time on the control could see them come into the thinking of other teams too.
Slingsby, in particular, will be a name to watch with the buzz of a possible return to the America’s Cup for Australia. Currently at the helm of the Australian SailGP team, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist would be a popular choice to lead that challenge.
While entries initially closed on October 31, Team NZ chief executive Grant Dalton said challengers being able to enter until the end of January could allow some new names to emerge.
“The main teams will enter by [October 31] because they can, because they know. The Australians, another Italian team, they get longer. You’ve got until the end of January as a late entry, and in theory, you have to pay more, but we’ve written a rule to waive that,” Dalton said.
“Why you can still be in there and potentially still competitive is you don’t have to build a new boat. If you had to build a new boat, it’s already too late. No one would enter now because they couldn’t do it.
“But because you’re starting with the same hull and there are second-hand hulls for sale that can be modified to be aerodynamically fast enough, the window is quite a lot wider. There’s quite a lot more room.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.