America's Cup 2027 in Naples, which teams will be there?

The next Louis Vuitton America's Cup will be in Naples in 2027. The news is few hours ago and it is a bombshell, because not everyone was convinced that it would be easy to convince Grant Dalton that Italy was the right place. Above all because it is Luna Rossa's "home" and the Italian team, which technically has not yet thrown down the gauntlet but has only said "we will be there", could have an advantage.

Head of Government Giorgia Meloni is satisfied: "Naples will be the host city in 2027 for the thirty-eighth edition of the world's most famous and prestigious sailing tournament, the America's Cup, a global event that involves millions of fans and represents a unique synthesis of tradition, technological innovation, engineering excellence and competitive spirit. I would like to thank the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi, the Minister for the Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti, the Mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi, Sport and Health, and all those who have worked, with passion and determination, to achieve this great result. The organisation of the America's Cup in Naples will also accelerate the massive redevelopment and regeneration plan launched by the Government to transform the Bagnoli area'.

The teams' bases will be in Bagnoli, racing in front of the Caracciolo seafront where the Neapolitan public has already witnessed one of the preliminary events of the 2017 Cup. It had been a well-attended event that had remained in the hearts of Grant Dalton who said 'to bring the Cup to Naples is to bring its heart closer to the public, to the warmth'. He is right and the Cup needs a connection with its audience.

What considerations did the New Zealanders make to decide? Meanwhile Naples has already hosted an event of the World Series related to the 34th edition of the Cup, with an incredible success of public: Corso Caracciolo in the hot moments was really full of people. Naples is one of the most beautiful places in the world, perhaps a little difficult to live in, but enchanting especially for foreigners, with an offer of excellence and luxury on the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Ischia unique. Moreover, the Italian one is the biggest audience of all for the America's Cup, no other nation accumulates so many viewers and social media visitors to the event. In Italy there had been talk of Genoa, Brindisi, Trieste, but Naples is the best mix both for the tourist offer and the possibility of channelling funds for the renovation of Bagnoli.

The race, if one can speak of it, was with Athens, which apparently proved less decisive in the final rush. In unsuspected times Grant Dalton said that 'New Zealand and Italy are the homes of the America's Cup' and yesterday he confirmed: 'we are going into the lion's den', referring to Luna Rossa. And this might not be a "gift" but a sort of provocation or spite: the Cup arrives in Italy without Luna Rossa having won it as she prepares for her eighth challenge.