Five America’s Cup teams – Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Athena Racing (GBR), Luna Rossa (ITA), Tudor Team Alinghi (SUI), and K-Challenge (FRA) — have united to create the America’s Cup Partnership.
In an historic move for the 174 year old competition, the four challenging teams have joined with the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, to form The America’s Cup Partnership (ACP), creating a unified entity dedicated to the long-term stability and growth of the America’s Cup.
The five founding teams will together present further details of the Partnership on 21 January 2026 in Naples, Italy with dates of the America’s Cup Match revealed.
Apart from the official Challenger of Record, Britain’s Athena Racing, until today’s announcement only Italy’s Luna Rossa had indicated that they would enter the next America’s Cup (AC38), scheduled for 2027.
This latest announcement officially confirms Italy’s entry (and host venue nation) and adds the French and Swiss teams.
Biggest surprise are the Swiss who had been keeping a low profile during the preliminary discussions. Their entry will boost the quality of the 2027 event, although they have considerable work ahead to rebuild their broken AC75 hull and masts, and reform the team.
Grant Dalton CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand commented: “This is about preserving what makes the America’s Cup extraordinary while building a sustainable model that benefits everyone who shares our passion for this great competition. We are securing the position of the America’s Cup at the pinnacle of innovation and professional sport for decades to come.”
The America’s Cup is facing a rapidly changing sailing world, with the traditional autocratic rule of the Defender at odds with such events as the SailGP League circuit, providing regular top level racing, with a flexible economic long-term team structure.
To combat this perceived challenge, the America’s Cup Defender and challenger of Record have developed a completely new structure for the next event – AC38 in 2027 – the America’s Cup Partnership.
This takes control of the event away from the Defender/Challenger of Record – as envisaged in the Deed of Gift – to a board comprised of the challenger representatives. Challengers are required to join the ACP on entry and the Board is comprised of one member from each of the entered teams.
The ACP is dedicated to the long-term stability and growth of the America’s Cup, and this envisages a change of the Cup from a unique one-off international match race, sailed within an historic Deed of Gift set of rules, and puts the America’s Cup on a rolling two-year cycle, without major resets.
For AC38 the requirement to design and build a unique boat for the event, something that required both teams to push the boundaries of yacht design to produce the fastest craft that they could, has been dropped.
In sailing terms this is the difference between a one-design and a restricted-design, and possibly the major defining feature of the America’s Cup if it is to genuinely maintain its unique historic links.
Under the AC38 Protocol the America’s Cup teams will now reuse their existing AC75 hulls and rigs, with internal and deck layout changes, undermining the very uniqueness that has made it the pinnacle of yachting competition.
The entry period for the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup remains open until 31 January 2026, for potential new additional teams to join ACP and the competition in Naples in 2027.
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