Setting Sail For The Cup

Dozens of racers and cruisers are bringing their own boats to AC35.

- Adam Cort

It’s been a strange Cup cycle. For all the press releases and hoopla surrounding the America’s Cup World series, AC35 continues to feel somehow distant—no surprise given it’s taking place off a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean—and this sense of distance has been only exacerbated by the lack of Cup boats. Until now.

As this edition was going to press, the five challengers and the defender, Oracle Team USA, were finally launching the AC50s aboard which they will compete beginning next month, after having expended a mandatory 28-day “blackout” period during which the boats could not be sailed.

“It’s a great moment to see our raceboat hit the water in Bermuda. We will be working very hard now on the final development and testing of this boat to make sure we are ready for the racing,” said Sir Ben Ainslie after the February launch of Land Rover BAR’s