Published: 30 June, Source: Scuttlebutt Sailing News
While the 36th America’s Cup has a Defender and three powerful Challengers from Great Britain, Italy, and USA, there are also two other Challengers that have had less certainty.
Teams from the Netherlands and another from USA, along with an effort from Malta, had submitted entries by the late entry deadline on November 30, 2018. While Malta has since tapped out, the other two have thus far shown no quit.
But at some point determination needs dollars, with the two remaining late challengers – Stars + Stripes USA and DutchSail – required to confirm their ongoing commitment to the 36th America’s Cup by July 1. The first announcement came from Long Beach Yacht Club:
Long Beach, CA (June 29, 2019) – Long Beach Yacht Club and its sailing representative Stars+Stripes USA confirm their participation in the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada.
“Long Beach Yacht Club is committed to making the start line at the first America’s Cup World Series Event in Cagliari, Italy. Our membership is excited and we are all working hard to achieve our goal of bringing the America’s Cup to Long Beach,” said Camille Daniels, Commodore of Long Beach Yacht Cub.
“We appreciate the continued support of LBYC and its membership, and the assistance of Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron over the past few months as we have reorganised our team,” said Mike Buckley, Co-Founder and Skipper of Stars+Stripes USA. “We continue to make progress with corporate partners, and believe we will have what it takes to be competitive in Auckland.”
With all the America’s Cup teams to have an AC75 ready for the first America’s Cup World Series event planned for April 2020 in Italy, and given the time required for construction, transportation, and training, the wheels need to be turning now for that deadline to be met. Scuttlebutt reached out to Stars+Stripes USA for an update but the team has thus far not responded to this request.