American Magic will not participate in the 38th edition of the America's Cup
For the top sailing event this is a huge blow, although it is still possible that an American team will decide to take part in the competition
During the European night, a bombshell exploded loud and clear about the future of the America's Cup: the American Magic team has announced that it will not participate in the next edition, the number 38, scheduled to take place in Naples. The announcement comes after a year and maybe more of incessant negotiations that led to a document of almost eight hundred pages to regulate the ACP, America's Cup Partnership, i.e. the big change that the sailing professionals want to make the Cup a "stable" circuit, as stable as it can be.
Intanto, che il team American Magic alzi bandiera bianca non significa che non ci sarà un team americano, come un po’ tutti hanno interpretato. L’America è grande e il legame tra American Magic e il New York Yacht Club non è indissolubile nè l’unico. Si sa che molti soci e parte del consiglio direttivo del Club non erano in sintonia con le intenzioni sul futuro della Coppa, restando legati a una visione più tradizionale ma soprattutto legata al Deed of Gift, il documento che da metà ottocento governa la Coppa. Ma bisogna anche scrivere che un altro club americano potrebbe all’improvviso esprimere un club. Cosa stride? Che proprio American Magic assieme ad Alinghi con Ernesto Bertarelli avevano iniziato il processo che ha portato al cambiamento ammettendo a bordo soprattutto i due stranieri strategicamente fondamentali per il team svizzero. Non solo iniziato, meglio scrivere preteso e che i riluttanti neozelandesi di Emirates Team New Zealand di Grant Dalton e il Challenger of Record Athena di Si
States the American team through the voice of Doug De Vos (incidentally a member of the New York Yacht Club and the team's financial backer): "After extensive discussions with the Defender, the Challenger of Record and the other teams, we have concluded that the current structure does not provide the necessary framework for American Magic to run a highly competitive and financially sustainable campaign for the 38th America's Cup. For a team committed to long-term excellence, the alignment between financial sustainability and competitive performance is essential. At this time, we do not believe the conditions are in place for American Magic to compete.
The American team is coming from two very difficult adventures: in 2021 in Auckland the boat capsized and despite efforts to get it back into competition it was never as fast as it could have been. In 2024 the main helmsman Paul Goodison was trivially injured when he fell into a halyard while helping to move the mainsail (the main sail), fracturing some ribs but above all having to give up his fundamental role on board.
For the top sailing event, it is a huge blow: it is still possible that an American team will rise from the ashes of American Magic, and the fantasy-sailing story goes that even Alinghi might hoist a stars and stripes flag, because Ernesto Bertarelli is moving his business interests to the US. Fascinating as it is a little surreal. But the Cup is beautiful precisely because it opens up unusual scenarios.
