Sailing – Great Britain’s first competitor in the 37th American Cup – a sport

Cowes / Isle of Wight (dpa) – UK’s Ineos team around British Olympic champion Sir Ben Ainsley is the “standard challenge” for the 37th America’s Cup.

A few days after completing the 36th edition of the Classic Sailing, British racing team Sir Jim Ratcliffe was the first team to challenge New Zealand to defend the Cup. According to the America’s Cup Act of 1857, the British took the lead among the contenders in negotiations with the New Zealanders. About four-time Olympic champion Ainsley, the British want to bring the oldest international sports trophy back to their home country for the first time since the trophy premiere that they lost in 1851.

While the Host District and Host Year remain open for the time being, some requirements have been made public. A stricter nationality rule and one boat rule will be introduced: In the future, each team will only be allowed to build one new boat in the future AC75 class, which premiered at the 36th America’s Cup. This would reduce costs and enable multiple countries to participate. For the 36th edition, the teams worked with budgets in excess of 100 million euros.

The new protocol, which sets the key dates for the 37th Copa America, will be published by November 2021. The venue should be decided by September. In order to keep the successful New Zealand sailors in the country, the government surrounding Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a € 3 million startup aid for their America’s Cup-winning team. Behind the British team is Ineos founder Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s wealthiest.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210319-99-887068 / 2