The America’s Cup AC75 Class Rules and Technical Regulations have been published and issued to all teams.
The press release does not clarify what the term “all teams” refers to as no formal list of Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup entries has so far been published for the event, which is provisionally scheduled for July 2027.
In addition Initial Preliminary Regattas are proposed during 2026 (in AC40) and early 2027, and an additional Initial Preliminary Regattas is proposed in early 2027 (in AC75), prior to the America’s Cup Challenger Selection Series (CSS) and the 38th AC Match in July 2027. The precise dates to be announced by 30 November 2025.
The two latest documents released are the AC75 Class Rules V3.0.01 dated 9 September, and the AC Technical Regulations V2.01 dated 9 September.
They follow The Protocol, signed earlier in New Zealand between the Defender of the America’s Cup, The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, represented by Team New Zealand, and the Challenger of Record, The Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd, represented by Athena Racing.
Referring the Class Rules and Technical Regulations document release, Dan Bernasconi the Chief Designer of Emirates Team New Zealand and one of the key architects of the rules alongside Athena Pathway’s Nick Holroyd, commented:
“We, as a collective between Defender and Challenger of Record, analysed all of the hull shapes used in Barcelona at AC37 and recognised that the speed differences purely of the hulls were minimal. All of the gains were in foils and systems; therefore it made absolute sense to concentrate design time into those areas of development and re-use the hulls. ”
“Another big change will come in the electronic management systems, now that cyclors have been outlawed, but the result will be even closer racing and a sustainable event overall.”
Key points of the new Class Rules and Technical Regulations:
With the clock ticking down to the start of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup in Naples in 2027, vital decisions will have to be taken in the coming days and weeks.
Not least for the teams still to put firm financial resources in place, and any late entries still to decide the source of a hull.
A key decision for the sailing teams will be for the designers to decide how the latest AC75 Class Rule modifications can be incorporated within the existing yachts and what improvements can be legally made. Will anyone adapt an Ac36 hull?
In particular the building and introduction of the three permitted new foils will be absolutely vital with the sailing team requiring time to ‘work up’ each foil and get comfortable with them, against the desire for secrecy until the last moment.
See the full AC75 Class Rule here . . . PDF
See the full AC75 Technical Regulations here . . . PDF
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