From Latitude 38:

September 13, 2017 – Auckland, New Zealand

Monohulls. Foiling monohulls.

At least that's the news we heard from Radio New Zealand, who on Tuesday wrote, "The next edition of America's Cup racing will switch from catamarans to high-performance monohull yachts, defending champions Team New Zealand have confirmed.

"And while the boats will be monohulls, they will also be foiling boats — lifting off the water like the catamarans did," RNZ reported.

Both RNZ and Scuttlebutt reported that Patrizio Bertelli — the head of Luna Rossa, the Challenger of Record — said in an interview with an Italian newspaper that his support for Emirates Team New Zealand's 2017 bid in Bermuda hinged on the Kiwis going back to monohulls, should they win. "It was the condition for us to help them with men and means in the last edition," Bertelli was quoted as saying.

For all the debate and speculation at the immediate conclusion of the Match about what type of boats would race in the next Cup, it appears that monohulls were in the cards long before they were dealt.

The exact date of the next Match seems to be up in the air, but the Kiwis said they're "considering the possibility" of holding the 36th Cup in Auckland in summer 2021. What has been clear since ETNZ's 'mini announcement' in July is that there will be a "'constructed in country' requirement for competing yachts and a nationality requirement for competing crew members."

RNZ said that more details would be coming later this month, but reported that ETNZ said they have been discussing design protocols with would-be challengers. "There is an overall desire to have a spectacular monohull yacht that will be exciting to match race, but also one that the public and sailors can relate to as a sailboat that really challenges a full crew of professional yachtsmen around the race track," Team New Zealand said in a statement, referring to the machine-like feel of the catamarans, which required pumping hydraulic oil as much as they did sailing.

After winning in Bermuda this summer, ETNZ CEO Grant Dalton said, "The sport needs stability," and RNZ reported that Dalton said he wants entry to the Cup to "be more affordable, and for rules to be less slanted in favor of the defenders."

While all this early conjecture is interesting, we're still waiting for a few rounds of lawsuits — and we'll believe our eyes when we actually see the new America's Cup Class ripping across the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland. We can only hope that the new Cup format will be good for the sport of sailing.


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