The next America’s Cup has already begun: the British presented the challenge, Artemis also arrives

The next America’s Cup has already begun, in fact as of today there are already those who are working to begin again. News of these hours tells that the British Royal Yacht Squadron, representing Ineos Britannia, has already officially submitted its challenge yesterday afternoon, which was formally accepted by Team New Zealand. The British are thus preparing to once again take on the role of Challenge of Record.

How do you beat kiwis?

It was clear from the first success in 1995that the New Zealanders were not going to be a comet, and when you consider that in 2003 and 2007 Alinghi won the Cup in fact with an almost all-Kiwi crew, we can in fact speak of almost uninterrupted dominance over the past 25 years. Only Larry Ellison with Oracle really beat the New Zealanders, in the controversial 2013 final.

A country of just over 5 million people once again demonstrated total design, technological and sailing superiority. The Kiwis deserved to win on all fronts, proving once again that they are almost a generation ahead from a boat standpoint, with a gap that from 2021 to now ultimately does not seem to have diminished.

Team New Zealand’s dominance, however, opens up a big question: what will be the future of the America’s Cup and how can it be wrested from the Kiwis. The Trophy today seems armored, perhaps in part because of a challenge of record that conceded too much to the defender, only to end up suffering its own levity. The future of the Cup already begins today, because there is the question of when and where the next edition will be, whether in Europe or elsewhere, and with what scenarios and challengers.

And it already appears certain that Britannia will still be the Challenge of Record, the challenger who signs up first and has the right to discuss the rules of the next edition with the defender.

The hope is that the British will try to limit New Zealand’s dominance on some points. In particular the arm movement software, provided one design by the New Zealanders, is one point that should be eliminated by leaving free design to the unions. And then there is also the issue of New Zealanders’ participation in the Louis Vuitton Cup, round robins in this case, a move seen done only to Oracle in the past. Eliminating these two points would slightly limit Team New Zealand’s power, make the Cup a little fairer, but still not erode the technological and design advantage the Kiwis currently have.

Swedes on the way

A slightly “fairer” Cup would entice the arrival of a few more challengers probably. And speaking of new challenges, whether they materialize will depend above all on the timing with which the next America’s Cup comes back into play: if it will be in two years difficult to see new entries, for this reason too it will be more likely that it will be contested again in 3. A reasonable time to be able to organize a challenge.

And it certainly seems that the Swedes from Artemis are thinking about it very seriously. Already present in the 2013 and 2017 editions, they are back in this Cup with an almost “silent” participation with the youth and women’s crew, but they are ready to launch their own challenge. Torbjörn Törnqvist, the Swedish millionaire who founded the Group, has seen his Cup challenges remain effectively unfulfilled: the first ended in tragedy with the accident that caused Andrew Simpson’s death, the second uncompetitive.

The Team Manager for the Swedish challenge is expected to be Briton Iain Percy, now inside Artemis for a decade, little is yet known about a possible crew but if there is a bet on a new entry for the next Cup it is them.

What about the others? The presence of Luna Rossa and Alinghi Red Bull Racing is a foregone conclusion, and that of American Magic is probable unless there are last-minute twists and turns related to a change of venue to the Emirates or Arabia. Indeed, it is no mystery that the New York team had already digested very poorly the choice of Jeddah for the preliminaries leg. Geopolitical balances advise the U.S. team to avoid an appearance in an Emirati country, and the intention has already been made public. This is also why such a venue has gradually lost share in recent days. Then there is the interest of Barcelona, which would like to bid again, but there are also scenarios that could see the next Cup defense still in Auckland.

It remains to be seen what the French Orient Express Racing Team, by word interested in continuing, will do. And should the Cup remain in Barcelona, a not unlikely scenario, watch for the arrival of a possible Spanish team.

In the rosiest hypothesis one would go for a Cup with eight teams: the New Zealand defender, plus Luna Rossa, Britannia, Orient Express, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, American Magic, plus the Spanish and Swedish teams. Instead, the more realistic assumption is that, defender aside, the challengers will be at most six, or five as in this edition, perhaps with the exit of Orient Express and the entry of Artemis. The next America’s Cup in any case has already begun.

Mauro Giuffrè