The coming of the new era of the America's Cup has already attracted 15 teams from 12 countries to the competition. The Battle of the Cup will begin with the World Series in Portugal (Cascais), Great Britain (Plymouth) and the United States (San Diego). The Cup final will take place in September 2013 in San Francisco and preparations are already well underway.
Until midnight on March 31, when the acceptance of applications was over, 14 teams managed to sign up for the 34th America's Cup. 12 of them have already been approved, and two more are now being tested for eligibility. As a result, together with the defending team of ORACLE Racing, up to 15 teams can participate in the 34th America's Cup.
"With fifteen teams, we have to have exciting competitions: World Series, the Louis Vuitton Cup and the Cup final," says Ian Murray, Director and CEO Regattas of the America's Cup (ACRM). "The new multihull yachts with solid sails will be very fast and demanding to prepare crews. It will make the races dynamic, capable of keeping the spectators' attention up to the finish line. We are looking forward to seeing all the declared crews in the AC World Series.
The current list of nominated and approved applicants:
- ALEPH EQUIPE DE FRANCE (France)
- Artemis Racing (Sweden)
- China Team (China)
- Emirates Team New Zealand (New Zealand)
- Energy Team (France)
- Mascalzone Latino (Italy)
- Team Australia (Australia)
Venezia Challenge (Italy)
and four unnamed teams
The schedule of AC World Series-2011:
Stage 1:
Cascais, Portugal
August 6-14
The press conference for the Portuguese race will be held in Cascais on April 4th at 15:00 local time.
Stage 2:
Plymouth, England.
September 10-18
The press conference for the British race was held in Plymouth on April 1st.
Stage 3:
San Diego, California.
The dates will be announced. According to the plan, the stage will be held between mid October and early December.
"We've chosen locations for the race that reflect the prestige of the America's Cup, while bringing all the heat of the water battle to the shore," said Richard Worth, ACEA Chairman. "All the locations selected for the World Series allow spectators to watch the race live, which will help show the sport to people around the world!
The "World Series" of the America's Cup will be a regular series of regattas held in the best locations in the world. At each stage there will be both match and group races. At the end of each season, the World Series will be awarded to the champion team. These events will give fans a unique opportunity to see all the participants of the America's Cup in one race. The schedule for the second half of the World Series will be announced by October of this year.
ACEA is currently in talks with potential sponsors and is in the process of identifying media partners for the Cup. The name of the first partner will be announced very soon.
The most important official partner of the America's Cup... Louis Vuitton - in November, announced the continuation of a longstanding collaboration with the oldest sailing trophy. The America's Cup qualifiers will be called again... Louis Vuitton Cup. In addition, Louis Vuitton will be the official timekeeper of the America's Cup races.
