International yacht racing is incredibly expensive. That is unquestionably true of the America’s Cup races. Recently, the Financial Times spoke to British sailing champion Ben Ainslie about his concerns that the race is too expensive to remain viable. The cost of the new boats creates a barrier to entry for new competition.
In March 2021, Sir Ben hopes to bring the trophy back to the UK for the first time in 170 years, backed by £110m from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of the Ineos chemicals group who topped The Sunday Times’ UK rich list in 2018.
FT notes, “though exclusivity has long been a byword of the contest, the prospect of only five teams vying for the cup worries Sir Ben. For him, such a small field detracts from the atmosphere of the competition. “We should be looking at 10 teams — that would be ideal,” he says. “If you ask any of the team principals, they would agree this particular boat is too expensive.” He is referring to the AC75 design for the 2021 race that specifies a boat length of 75 feet, with two long foil arms that make the vessels appear to fly over the water. “For a new team looking to get involved, it is quite daunting,” says Sir Ben.”
These concerns are nothing new for the Cup. As we posted in 2013, when the race was being sailed in 72-foot-long foiling catamarans:
Even the event sponsors have admitted that the AC72 catamarans being raced are too expensive and that the cost has limited the number of boats racing.
As quoted in the New York Times: “There is no doubt that the AC72 was more expensive to manufacture and prepare for than we anticipated. When you couple that with the economic downturn that we experienced in 2010 and 2011, that’s the reason we have fewer teams participating this summer than we would have liked,” said Stephen Barclay, chief executive of the America’s Cup Event Authority, the company established by Mr. Ellison to run the event, adding, however, that the boats are safe.”…
The AC72s are so large, expensive and on the bleeding edge of technology that what should have been an exciting series of races is developing into a competition among a small number of costly boats that may or may not cross the finish line before breaking down. Let’s just hope that no one else gets seriously hurt.
Sadly, six years later, while the design has shifted from multi to monohulls, very little else has changed.
Bring back the J’s!! More beautiful, more crew involved, Much less costly. (each entry limited to one boat built) more useful to somebody else after the AC races are done, vastly less wasteful.
Return of the Beauty. Farewell the Beast.
12 Meters where the pinnacle of match racing!
Agreed with above. These multimillion dollar toys are for the rich. Racing on a foil edge should be of their own “modified” class.