We admit it, we’re excited. The 37th America’s Cup has all the signs of being a good one. At six teams in total, it may not match the entry numbers of the last Challengers series in Spain (the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia, when 12 teams duked it out for a chance to race Alinghi), but the intriguing thing about this Cup is that there are no real ‘wildcard’ entries. Even the newest or latest entries have the potential to deliver a strong showing in the Louis Vuitton Cup.

For this second edition held in the AC75 class there have also been some rule changes. From a spectator perspective the primary change is likely to be that the boats are designed to get foiling, and stay foiling, in much lighter winds, avoiding the painful ‘low-riding’ mode which dogged some teams last time around.

That’s not to say it will all be easy: the light winds and confused wave patterns that often dominate waters off Barcelona in early autumn could prove challenging for competitors and organisers alike.

Another big shift is the introduction of the AC40. These nippy mini-Cup boats have been multipurpose – used as test platforms for innovation, as race boats for the new Youth America’s Cup and Women’s America’s Cup events, and training boats.

One thing we’ve gleaned from watching the AC40 two-boat training is that the current Cup teams are preparing for battle, match racing style. With the new AC75s expected to be closely matched in speed, there’s every indication that this America’s Cup could see a return to dial-ups, slam-dunk tacks and nail-bitingly close crosses – all at 50 knot boat speeds. Let the Challenge begin…

Emirates Team New Zealand

The Defenders are certainly going to be hard to beat. Not only did they hold all the cards when it came to creating the Protocol and choosing the venue for AC37, but they also only need to build a boat which can win the Match, rather than also needing to be fastest in the earlier Louis Vuitton Series.

Grant Dalton is known for driving a team with a laser-sharp focus, and ETNZ held a successful home defence during the strange Covid bubble Cup of 2021. But this time they are hosting an event on the opposite side of the world, with multiple Preliminary regattas, and a Women’s and Youth event, and all the compilations and distractions that brings.

Emirates Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup boat

ETNZ’s Taihoro looks like a refined 2nd generation AC75 and a progression of their previous winning design. While not outwardly radical, the most progressive ideas are likely to be concealed in key areas like control systems, with the team showcasing a mainsheet design that appears to save structural weight and offer energy efficiency. Though the team initially lost sailing time shipping their new boat to Spain, Taihoro will be developed right through the Challenger series.

Emirates Team New Zealand’s team

Skipper Pete Burling shares helming duties this time around with foiling super-talent Nathan Outteridge (the Australian has lived in New Zealand since 2018). Blair Tuke, Andy Maloney and Josh Junior are among the ETNZ crew who, like Burling, return to bid for a hat-trick third Cup win.

INEOS Britannia

Every British Challenge comes with a monumental weight of expectation – in 173 years Britain is yet to win the Cup. On paper, this could be the strongest and most consistent yet. However, there have been big changes – both in personnel and the partnership with Mercedes-AMG Petronas.

Of all the F1 collaborations in this Cup cycle, the British seem to have gone the furthest and the team has said enough to suggest that it was, at times, a somewhat challenging process. A complex LEQ12 boat also proved testing in every sense: capsizing, nearly catching fire, and with structure failures. However, the Brits will be hoping they can trust the process, and that F1’s data-driven approach and relentless striving for reliability will pay off by the Challenger series. It will be a truly epic sporting moment if they can get to face the Defender.

INEOS Britannia’s America’s Cup boat

INEOS Britannia is a complex beast, with geometry that shows the influence of the detailed aerodynamic tools used in the F1 car designs. Britannia has a powerful looking ‘bustle’ or skeg, which ends before a transom-hung rudder – there’s been plenty of speculation about exactly why, but all the teams have moved the centre of gravity forward, shifting the crew weight closer to the mast base in an effort to improve righting moment.

INEOS Britannia’s team

Ben Ainslie will co-helm with 49er gold medallist and Moth World Champion Dylan Fletcher on the opposite wheel (a surprise announcement that Giles Scott will not be part of the starting line up, instead remaining on shore as sailing team manager). Britain’s strength in cycling and rowing has also given the squad new talent to bolster the power crew, joining more experienced campaigners like Ben Cornish and Neil Hunter.

NYYC American Magic

American Magic were looking like one of the strongest contenders in the last Cup cycle, before Patriot’s infamous crash during the Prada Cup ruled them out of being competitive. The team dug deep to try to rebuild and return – and won many fans for their determination against the odds – but there’s no question the America’s Cup is unfinished business for backers Doug Devos and Hap Fauth, and Terry Hutchinson (who moves to an off the water skipper/president role).

They are clearly in it for the long-haul – a new high performance sailing base is being built in Pensacola, Florida, though whether that’s planned as a base from which to launch their next challenge, or to host the America’s Cup remains to be determined…

American Magic’s America’s Cup Boat

The new Patriot is different from many of the other AC75s this time. Recumbent cyclors face aft – though it’s accepted a recumbent position will generate less power than a ‘sit up’ bike. Helm and flight controller pods are next to each other, rather than inline, which moves weight forward – but likely with an aerodynamic hit. So can Patriot’s markedly lower volume design, with increased mainsail area swept down to a low profile deck and a lowered centre of effort, outperform those compromises? Many think it can.

American Magic’s Team

Australian Tom Slingsby’s helming talents were sorely missed in the last Cup, but thanks to a US passport he’s on one wheel of Patriot. Brit Paul Goodison takes the other, moving from mainsheet trim. It’s a formidable partnership, which got off to a winning start at the first Preliminary Regatta.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

These days it’s hard to imagine the America’s Cup without Patrizio Bertelli and a silver and red Prada-liveried Italian entry. This is their sixth Challenge since 2000, the third skippered by Max Sirena. The Italians have a remarkable record, having been a finalist in the Challengers series four times, twice winning, beaten in two Cup matches and two Challenger finals by Team New Zealand.

But they’ve never gone one better – is this their year? The Italians have had an apparently smooth build-up to the 37th Cup, training off Cagliari year-round in a wide range of conditions in the AC40 and LEQ12, before launching their AC75 there.

The team also picked up a confidence-boosting 2nd place in the Jeddah Preliminary Regatta, behind – of course – Emirates Team New Zealand.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s America’s Cup boat

The Italian team’s silver bullet is an undeniably stylish machine, with a sleek design characterised by organic flowing shapes rather than the computer generated angles of other teams. The low volume hull has a deep, slim skeg to slice through the Barcelona waves.

Helm stations are positioned well forward, and the team has been experimenting with fighter jet-style canopies for their AC75 pilots – while we understand there are cameras under the hood for improved all-round visibility.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s team

The Italians were first to introduce split helms in the last Cup and the easy patter between Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni delighted fans. Spithill has stepped out of SailGP in order to focus on the Cup this time, but talented younger drivers Ruggero Tita and Marco Gradoni also made a big impression in the AC40s in Jeddah.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing

Inviting jokes about running like Swiss clockwork, Alinghi were first to roll out their AC75 in April, but the team’s return to the Cup arena has been slick from the start. They were first (after the Challenger of Record) to throw their hat into the ring, and first to get sailing in Barcelona (with ETNZ’s former AC75), then spent a winter two-boat training in AC40s in Jeddah – also taking 3rd in the Preliminary Regatta there (ahead of American Magic and INEOS Britannia).

Alinghi remains the only European team ever to have won the America’s Cup (in 2003 and 2007), but since their defeat in 2010 Bertarelli has kept his powder dry. The reformed syndicate, partnered with F1 team Red Bull Racing, is not to be underestimated.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s America’s Cup boat

The Botin-designed SUI-100 BoatOne features some radical angles and intriguing curves which suggest the influence of F1 team Red Bull Racing in the hull shape’s aerodynamics – the boat has markedly truncated topsides which end abruptly before the transom, and a scooped foredeck. BoatOne dismasted in June, however Alinghi was quick to re-step a new mast, and the team now has a possible advantage of knowing more about the one-design rig’s limitations than other Challengers…

Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s team

The strict nationality rule means Alinghi needed to find home-grown talent for AC37 but Switzerland has a strong tradition of lake racing in radical high performance designs. The Swiss squad is young, with experience in foiling classes like the GC32 and TF35. Skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis is a double foiling Moth European champion. Older hands behind the scenes have included Brad Butterworth and Dean Barker.

Orient Express Racing Team

The French Orient Express team was the last to enter the 37th America’s Cup, and the last to launch their AC75. There is plenty of knowledge of both the Cup and how to build a winning campaign in this camp – joint CEOs are K-Challenge founder Stephan Kandler and Dongfeng team boss Bruno Dubois, while Franck Cammas is head of performance.

Dubois has been open about the fact that the team is running on a much smaller budget than many of its rivals, but with that comes efficiency of decision making and a sharp focus. Sound familiar? It’s the same backs-against-the-wall ethos the Kiwis are famed for, from another of the greatest sailing nations in the world. Early indications are this team could punch above its weight.

Orient Express Racing Team’s America’s Cup boat

The French bought a design package from Emirates Team New Zealand so their AC75 inevitably shares many characteristics with the Defender’s. It’s a fair assumption that the French boat won’t be quicker than Taihoro. However, the French team aren’t necessarily trying to beat ETNZ – to line up against them in the Match would be an extraordinary victory in itself. This campaign is about gaining knowledge, and delivering enough returns to build a team with longevity.

Orient Express Racing’s Team

The Orient Express crew overlap closely with the French SailGP team (also managed by Dubois), and have picked up 2nd overall at two GP events this season. Though lacking Cup match racing experience, skipper Quentin Delapierre and crew sprung a major surprise when they finished 3rd at the first Preliminary Regatta in Vilanova.

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