America's Cup, new racing protocol for regattas in Naples in 2027

Less than two years to go until the next America's Cup, which will be held in Naples in 2027, and at 4am yesterday morning (i.e. early afternoon in New Zealand) the Protocol for the 38th edition was released, which defines much more than 'technical' rules on hulls, crews and racing methods and has been described as 'groundbreaking' for this reason.

The announcement of the choice of Naples, a revolutionary choice in itself, arrived just three months ago (see Il Sole 24 Ore of 16 May), welcomed by the international sailing community, which still remembers the regattas leading up to the final phase of the 2003 edition of the trophy, which took place in Naples, while Trapani was chosen for the 2005 edition. These were, not by chance, editions won by Alinghi, the team from a country, Switzerland, that is landlocked. The choice of Italy by the current holders of the Cup, Team New Zealand, is certainly not due to the lack of water surfaces on which to sail, but rather (as was the case in 2024 for America's Cup number 37, assigned in the sea of Barcelona) to the need to give greater visibility and media coverage to the trophy, overcoming in particular the problems linked to the ten-hour time difference between Europe and New Zealand.

A role in the choice of Spain for last year's edition and Italy for the next one was certainly played by Louis Vuitton, the world's largest and most famous luxury brand (with a turnover of around 20 billion in 2024), which has been linked to the Cup for many years and even more so with the next edition, renamed Louis Vuitton America's Cup: the French maison of the LVMH group is no longer just the sponsor of the Louis Vuitton Cup (the regattas between the challengers to establish who will face the holder of the trophy), but rather the title sponsor of the entire event. But let us come to the revolutionary protocol: the America's Cup is not only the oldest sporting trophy in the world (it was held for the first time in 1851, with the victory of an American team over a British one), but the one with the strangest rules. In 173 years, the 37 editions took place not every 4.6 years - as mathematics would suggest - but at anything but regular intervals. The second edition was in 1870 and since then unpredictability has been a constant, which, especially in the modern era, has complicated (and partly discouraged) the choices of the big sponsors.

The most important novelties of the Protocol for Naples start, not by chance, from the commercial aspects and have been fine-tuned in New Zealand and signed, technically, by the defender, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, represented by Team New Zealand, and the Challenger of Record (the first of the challengers, defeated in the final in 2024), the Royal Yacht Squadron, represented by the British Athena Racing. "The America's Cup is the oldest trophy in international sport and the pinnacle of sailing, but its Achilles' heel has always been its lack of continuity," said Team New Zealand's Grant Dalton. "The transformation we are announcing today now offers all teams collective management and we are working towards a new management team led by an independent ceo.

And here are the main novelties there will be three preliminary regattas in 2026 and one at the start of 2027, to be contested on the AC40s (the 40-foot, approximately 12-metre boats already seen in Barcelona) and a final preliminary regatta in Naples on the AC75s (the 75-foot, 20.7-metre AC40's bigger brothers); a cap of 75 million euros has been set for Cup number 38, with adjustments planned for 39, and all existing teams will have to use the same AC75 hulls used in the 37th America's Cup, if available the racing format has been revitalised to allow all teams to race for longer and maximise the duration of the event, with the group phase of the Louis Vuitton Cup to include both match racing (one-on-one) and fleet racing; for the five crew members, the nationality clause requires that two sailors plus the female sailor (mandatory) must be nationals of the challenging team's country. Last but not least and still on the subject of inclusiveness, the Protocol confirmed the Women's America's Cup and Youth America's Cup events, with the aim of continuing to build a path for women and young people.