The 38th America’s Cup took another knock with news that the Swiss Alinghi Red Bull Racing team have pulled out.
Not that they ever actually confirmed their entry.
The only entries for the next America’s Cup are the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand and the Challenger of Record, the Royal Yacht Squadron . . . represented by Sir Ben Anslie’s Athena Racing.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Britannia sailing team formally abandoned its challenge last week, and to date the Swiss, French, Italian and American teams have not made any move to confirm their entry.
Anslie’s entry could also be a no-show if he fails to replace the team’s financial backing, after the withdraw of Ratcliffe’s INEOS and Mercedes F1 sponsorship left him scrambling to put together a new financial and technical package for Athena Racing.
It is not just the challengers facing problems. The defending ETNZ team has recently parted company with skipper Pete Burling after failing to reach an agreement for the 38th America’s Cup.
Plus the event venue is still an unknown after Auckland said they would not host the next America’s Cup defence, leaving Team NZ chief executive Grant Dalton heading hot-foot to Europe to find another venue.
The venue has to be confirmed by June 2025.
Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi Red Bull Racing is a double winner of the Auld Mug. Winning in 2003 and 2007, before losing an acrimonious one-off ‘deed of gift’ match race series to the USA’s BMW Oracle in 2010.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing has been approached for comment.
