America's Cup Partnership, the new era of sailing with Naples as a protagonist until 2029

The greatest event in sailing is moving towards a different future. In a world that experiences change as always necessary, even the oldest trophy in the sport, in the sense that it has been contested with only the interruption of world wars continuously since the mid-19th century, seeks to become something new. The example is that of the Formula Uno, the circuit of circuits.

Five teams have finally signed the mighty founding document of the America's Cup Partnership, 800 pages of legal intricacies. They have signed the Defender Team New Zealand, the British Challenger of Record Athena Racing, our heroes Team Luna Rossa, the Swiss of Tudor Alinghi and the French of K Challenge. Also expected is an American syndicate that will not be American Magic but should enter with a late entry by 31 January.

The document is not a long page like the Magna Carta, it is instead the result of years of negotiation, mediation, anger. The intention realised is to stabilise the event so that it is recognisable to the public and sponsors (above all) and therefore takes on a 'value'. In the last two editions, the TV rights were basically given away to win over the public. The operation served to rebuild a following for the Cup after the audience-poor editions of 2010, 2013 and 2017, where the eagerness to sell TV rights with an 'American' model actually played against the spread of the event. Stabilising the event and dividing the burdens and honours among the participants, all without any real distinction with respect to the weight now held by the holder, who in practice has been able to decide everything, and the challengers. This is an important knot, difficult to understand for those who have lived the model of other sports. In practice you create that body that administers the event and should do so independently, making decisions that serve the event and not to gain advantages in order to win. That infernal mechanism has allowed the New York Yacht Club to hold the Cup for 132 years.

If the Cup, ever since the centre of gravity of the economy shifted from the British Empire to the United States, is a compass on society, a symptom of what is going on in the world, one must also read what it says. Meanwhile Italy as the venue for two editions, a path that will lead Naples to experience this event until 2029 with a two-year cycle. Then the women on board, the young people. Says Matteo de Nora, the Team Principal of Emirates Team New Zealand, who decided with Grant Dalton the Italian venue, working in close contact with Sport and Health and the Government: "This organisational change is meant to be an adaptation to the new realities and needs of contemporary sport, with the involvement of sponsors, the search for stability in the circuit. We have to consider the increased public participation while trying to maintain the unique appeal of the Cup and especially the high-tech side that is unique to this event." Grant Dalton, CEO of the New Zealand team adds . "We are securing the America's Cup's position at the forefront of innovation and professional sport for decades to come.

The birth of the America's Cup Partnership is, in short, a historic moment. There is also Luna Rossa, which until now had never declared anything, remaining at the window waiting for events. But then Ceo Max Sirena finally declared: 'Our team has chosen to join a project aimed at guaranteeing stability, sustainability and continuity to the America's Cup,' he said, 'while respecting its values and its ability to innovate. A responsible choice towards the sport, our fans and future generations of Italian sailors".