New challenge for America’s Cup

(August 31, 2026) – New York Yacht Club Commodore Clare Harrington announced today that the Club has asked the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau to examine whether the newly created America’s Cup Partnership (ACP) can be reconciled with the Deed of Gift—the 1887 charitable trust instrument that has governed the America’s Cup since the trophy was first placed in trust in New York.

The New York Yacht Club has submitted a request to the Charities Bureau of the Office of the New York State Attorney General, which supervises charitable trusts in this State, to review the newly created ACP in light of the terms of the America’s Cup Deed of Gift (the “Deed”).

At the heart of the matter is the essence of the competition itself: whether the America’s Cup remains, in the words of the Deed, a “perpetual Challenge Cup for friendly competition between foreign countries,” or whether it can be converted into a centrally managed, commercially controlled regatta run by a standing body of incumbent competitors. – Full report

MORE: The Defender and Challenger of Record issued their response to the NYYC action.