Dates set for Youth America’s Cup

The Youth America’s Cup began in 2013, hosting ten teams from eight nations in San Francisco, CA. It was a strong start, with many of the competitors making the step up to America’s Cup campaigns. The event has continued for each edition (though was cancelled in 2021 due to the pandemic), with the latest version to be on June 2-6, 2027.

A bridge between emerging talent and the professional America’s Cup environment, the Youth America’s Cup has offered young sailors exposure to the high-performance racing, technology, teamwork, and pressure that define the modern competition. Past winners were New Zealand (2013), Great Britain (2017), and Italy (2024).

That first event launched youth skippers Peter Burling, Jason Waterhouse, and Michael Menninger on to the current stage, as has the pathway from Barcelona 2024 providing the path to the senior squads for Naples 2027: Team New Zealand (Seb Menzies); Luna Rossa (Maria Giubilei, Margherita Porra, Marco Gradoni); GB1 (Matt Beck), and ARC Team USA (Harry Melges).

Racing is presumed to be in AC40s, though no further event details were provided.

Details: https://www.americascup.com/

Defender New Zealand and Challenger of Record from Great Britain confirmed the Protocol for the 38th America’s Cup on August 12, 2025. The close of the initial entry period was October 31, 2025, with late entries considered up to March 31, 2026.

The AC40 has a helm and trimmer on each side of the boat, while the AC75 does too along with a fifth crew position and a sixth passenger position.

38th America’s Cup entrants:
• Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL) – Defender
• GB1 (GBR) – Challenger of Record
• Luna Rossa (ITA) – Challenger
• Tudor Team Alinghi (SUI) – Challenger
• La Roche-Posay Racing Team (FRA) – Challenger
• American Racing Challenger Team USA (USA) – Challenger
• Team Australia (AUS) – Challenger

After the 2024 event, Barcelona, Spain declined hosting another edition, with the venue moved to Naples, Italy. Challenger racing is May 22 to July 4 before the 38th Match on July 10-19. Full details.

Preliminary Regattas:*
May 22-24, 2026 – Cagliari, Italy
September 24-27 – Naples, Italy

* The Protocol noted how there would be as many Preliminary Regattas as possible, with the intent to have three during 2026 and one possibly in early 2027, and a final event at the Match Venue immediately prior to the challenger series. Only two have been thus far revealed.

Source: ARC Team USA