37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton: Departing soon!

I must admit that I’ve always been a fan of boats, which is certainly due to the fact that my parents come from a part of the Québec province overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where I spent my summers when I was younger. It’s this love of water and boats that leads me to tell you about The 37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton, the quintessential yacht race and the oldest international sporting competition, which will take place between August 22 and October 27, 2024, in Barcelona, Spain, less than 50 days before the start of this great race.

What is America’s Cup?

Long before the 37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton, there have been 36 others, as you can read about here. The whole thing began 173 years ago, making it the oldest competition in nautical terms and in all sports combined, as we said in the introduction. America’s Cup races pit two yachts against each other: one from the yacht club currently holding the trophy (the Defender), the other from the yacht club vying for the Cup (the Challenger). The winner receives the America’s Cup trophy, unofficially known as the “Auld Mug.” Matches take place several years apart, on dates agreed between the defending champion and the challenger. There is no fixed date, but the races generally take place every three or four years.

The origin of the race

It was the American John Cox Stevens, a founding member of the New York Yachting Club (NYYC) in 1844, who heard of the interest shown by some English maritime merchants in pitting the fast-American sailing schooners, which docked their merchant ships, against the best English yachts at The Great Exhibition. This was the genesis of what would become the America’s Cup a few years later, in 1851.

Origin of the name

The schooner “America” crossed the Atlantic from New York as a representative of American nautical ingenuity, intent on challenging the best of the British fleet in speed trials. America” caused a sensation, winning a race around the Isle of Wight in the annual Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) regatta on August 22, 1851, for what was then known as the “£100 Cup.” America received the winner’s cup from Thomas Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton and Commodore of the RYS, and Queen Victoria paid a visit aboard the schooner the following day. The trophy was first kept by John Cox Stevens, the man who initiated the project and was President of the America’s syndicate. Six years later, in the year of John Cox Stevens’s death in 1857, the cup was presented to the NYYC by the other members of the Syndicate who had originally built the schooner. At their instigation and under the aegis of the NYYC, the trophy was renamed after the victorious yacht, for a competition open to all the world’s “Yacht Clubs,” in the spirit of the regatta run around the Isle of Wight. On July 8, 1857, they laid down the first rules of the challenge for the cup in the deed of gift, which briefly describes the rules of the duel, specifying that any rule can be challenged by mutual consent, rules which still hold true today.

A new title partner: Louis Vuitton

On October 23, 2024, French luxury goods giant Louis Vuitton announced its return to the 37th America’s Cup, becoming Title Partner of the event and returning to organize its legendary qualifying stages, the Louis Vuitton Cup. Louis Vuitton has been nurturing America’s Cup legends for 40 years, from the United States to Australia, via Bermuda, Hong Kong, Dubai, France and Spain: legends of an age-old competition with fascinating codes, reinvented race formats, exceptional sailors and craftsmen, and memorable performances in every corner of the globe. In 1983, their paths crossed when Louis Vuitton proposed awarding a trophy dedicated to the face-off between the defending champion and his rivals. Year after year, Louis Vuitton considerably raised the profile and prestige of the America’s Cup. A book is even dedicated to the Louis Vuitton Cup.

37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton

The teams

There are 6 competitors in this edition, from the USA, Italy, France, Great Britain and Switzerland.

The Defender : Emirates Team New Zealand

Representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Emirates Team New Zealand was the overall winner of the 36th America’s Cup in 2021, and is regarded as one of the world’s finest sporting teams. Their history in the America’s Cup is phenomenal: they won the event for the first time in 1995 before retaining it in 2000. The team then suffered notable defeats in 2003, 2007 and 2013 before reclaiming the Cup in 2017 in Bermuda, under the leadership of general manager Grant Dalton.

Challenger of Record: INEOS Britannia

INEOS Britannia, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd, is the Challenger of Record for the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. INEOS is the main financial backer, initiated by INEOS chairman and founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who previously supported the team’s 36th America’s Cup challenge. Membership of the INEOS Sport Group gives the sailing team and its designers access to a wider sporting family that includes the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team, the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team, the All Blacks and soccer clubs OGC Nice, FC Lausanne-Sport and, more recently, Manchester United Football Club.

The Other Challengers

Twice winner of the America’s Cup—in 2003 and 2007—the Swiss Alinghi team, created by owner and backer Ernesto Bertarelli, is one of the most respected forces in the world of sailing. Returning to the America’s Cup in 2024, Société Nautique de Genève has teamed up with Red Bull Advanced Technologies (the Formula 1 team) and the Red Bull brand to create Alinghi Red Bull Racing, which Bertarelli described at its launch as “a true partnership, aimed at fostering the growth and development of the team and improving its competitiveness”: “a true partnership aimed at training young athletes and making them the best in their field.”

NYYC American Magic

New York Yacht Club American Magic was formed in 2018 by directors Hap Fauth, Roger Penske and Doug DeVos with the intention of reclaiming the oldest trophy in international sport for the yacht club that has held the America’s Cup for 132 years, since its inception in 1851. The loss is deeply felt by NYYC members, but American Magic is waging a campaign worthy of the club, both on and off the water.

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli

The beaten finalist in 2021, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, is back for the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup in Barcelona, determined to do even better. Backed by Patrizio Bertelli, one of the biggest America’s Cup supporters in the event’s history with seven participations since the team’s first entry in 2000, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s challenge for 2024 draws on all the experience of their past campaigns.

Orient Express Racing Team

Led by Stephan Kandler and Bruno Dubois, the Orient Express Racing Team was the last to enter the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, but it’s packed with talent. Naval architect Benjamin Muyl, skipper Quentin Delapierre, performance manager Franck Cammas and technical director Antoine Carraz aim to take the colours of Orient Express (a division of Accor, the hotel giant behind Fairmont Hotels such as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac) as far as possible in the competition.

The boats

Although the foil (a foiler can be defined as a monohull or multihull sailboat that uses the dynamic [speed-related] lift of several foils [streamlined, immersed load-bearing planes] to replace or complement the archimedian lift of the hull or hulls) seems like a recent revolution that has taken the world of water sports by storm, it has been at the heart of America’s Cup racing for over ten years.

It was in August 2012 that the world of sailing was turned upside down by a 72-foot catamaran flying in the Gulf of Hauraki. Emirates Team New Zealand had introduced foils to the America’s Cup, forever changing the face of top-level and Grand Prix yacht racing.

Six years later, in 2018, the publication of the AC75 class rule (75 being the foil length in feet) marked the beginning of a new era of sailing.

The engineering and sailing techniques required to fly the AC75 were completely different from anything seen before, and the America’s Cup became the ultimate foil development arena.

At the 36th America’s Cup in 2021, the AC75s proved their uniqueness and held millions of fans around the world spellbound. Not surprisingly, the defending champions were keen to improve their performance. Not surprisingly, Emirates New Zealand wanted to retain the AC75 class for the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup in Barcelona, but with a number of improvements, such as reducing the number of crew members, lightening the total hull weight and increasing the size of the foils, in order to reduce costs and improve boat performance, and increasing the size of the foils, in order to promote faster flight and incorporate more modern technologies. But the defender and official challenger have gone even further.

With the emphasis on young people and women to develop the sport in the future, a new class of boat has been introduced—the AC40—specifically for this purpose. The little brother of the AC75, the AC40 was launched in Auckland with great enthusiasm, its speed almost immediately reaching 40 knots as soon as it leaves the water under the skilful command of Emirates Team New Zealand in September 2022.

In 2023, no fewer than ten AC40s were delivered to the America’s Cup teams, and in the preliminary regattas at Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain, and especially in the fierce winds of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, they showed that foiling monohull racing was undoubtedly the most exciting and closest thing to reality on the water. At the end of 2023, World Sailing named the AC40 “Boat of the Year 2023”, a distinction richly deserved by this ultimate foiling yacht. Barcelona will be treated to a foiling grand-prix spectacle never before seen in the America’s Cup.

The Races

Barcelona Preliminary Regatta: August 22-25, 2024

The six America’s Cup teams will take part in the preliminary regatta aboard the brand-new AC75s. Racing begins on August 22, with four days of racing to determine the two fastest teams. The top two teams will compete in the final race on the fourth and final day to decide the winner of the event. Races start each day at 2 p.m. (2 p.m. CEST) and continue until 4 or 5 p.m., depending on the race schedule.

All the teams competing in the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup are taking part in the Barcelona Preliminary Regatta: the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, the Challenger of Record, INEOS Britannia, and the Challengers, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, NYYC American Magic, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Orient Express Racing Team.

Louis Vuitton Cup: August 29 to October 7

The Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selections Series) will determine which team will face the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand in the ultimate showdown of the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. The series comprises a double round-robin phase and a semi-final phase, followed by a two-boat race final. The top four teams will compete in a semi-final, with the two winners advancing to the Louis Vuitton Cup final. The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup is the first team to score seven points and will face Emirates Team New Zealand in the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. Racing starts at 2 p.m. (2 p.m. CEST) on race days (schedules may be slightly modified on days coinciding with the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup regattas), and continues until 4 or 5 p.m., depending on the regatta schedule.

37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton

The America’s Cup is a where there is no second place. You either win, or you lose, and it’s been that way for over 173 years. In the final of the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, defending champion Emirates Team New Zealand will face the winner of the La Coupe Louis Vuitton (Challenger Selections Series) in a seven-point match. Each race will be a match race between the two teams. The winner of each race scores one point, the loser none. The first team to score seven points becomes the defending champion of the 38th America’s Cup.

The other categories races

New for the 37th edition, two new races are added to the majestic competition: the UniCredit Youth America’s Cup from September 17 to 26, 2024 and the PUIG Women’s America’s Cup from October 5 to 13, 2024.

For the PUIG Women’s America’s Cup and the Youth America’s Cup, the twelve-team fleet is split between guest teams and participating teams from the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. The qualifying series comprises a total of eight races for both groups. The top three teams in each group will take part in a final series of four races to determine the top two teams who will face off in a final duel regatta, with the winner taking the spoils. Races start at 2 pm (2:00 pm CEST) on race days (schedules may be slightly modified on days coinciding with Louis Vuitton Cup races) and continue until 4 or 5 pm, depending on the race schedule.

The six teams confirmed for the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup in Barcelona line up the two UniCredit Youth & Puig Women’s America’s Cup teams. They will represent their respective clubs from New Zealand, Great Britain, the United States, Italy, Switzerland and France. The remaining six teams come from Spain (Royal Barcelona Yacht Club), the Netherlands (Royal Netherlands Yacht Club & Royal Maas Yacht Club), Canada (Royal Vancouver Yacht Club)—a point of pride here—Germany (Kieler Yacht Club 3.V & Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), Sweden (Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club) and Australia (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia).

Explora Journeys: a partner at sea for the 37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton

Explora Journeys, the MSC Group’s new luxury cruise brand, was recently announced as a global partner of the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup. This is an important milestone for Explora Journeys, which aligns with the brand’s commitment to creating exceptional experiences at sea and reflecting a shared maritime heritage and values.

Since its creation in 1851, the America’s Cup has symbolized the pioneering spirit of sailing, encouraging revolutionary designs and pushing the limits of performance.
Pierfrancesco Vago, Chairman of the Cruise Division of the MSC Group, said: “Our collaboration with the America’s Cup pays homage to a shared seafaring history of challenge and achievement. From the rich tapestry of the Cup’s history to our own 300-year maritime tradition, this partnership embodies our commitment to excellence, innovation, and a deep reverence for the sea.”

When we think of the America’s Cup, we think of participants with unwavering ambition, wanting to be the best, fuelled by humanity’s innate competitive spirit. Grant Dalton, Managing Director of America’s Cup Events, said, “We are delighted to welcome Explora Journeys as a Global Partner to the 37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton . They are driven by creating exceptional experiences at sea, and I have no doubt that during the two months of racing from August 22nd we are going to see some of the most exceptional America’s Cup racing ever.”

United by their shared values and a deep respect and passion for the sea, the America’s Cup and Explora Journeys are committed to adopting the latest environmental solutions.

As part of this collaboration, Explora Journeys welcomed the prestigious America’s Cup trophy aboard EXPLORA I on June 19, offering guests and partners the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the heritage of this legendary competition.

The day marked the start of a series of exciting activities and events in Barcelona, Spain. Among them, the official race village, which will feature a dedicated Explora Journeys zone, where guests can immerse themselves in the ocean state of mind. In addition, this partnership is highlighted by the display of the Explora Journeys logo during race broadcasts. Viewers can prepare to be captivated by the magnificence of the America’s Cup trophy, the exclusive festivities and the luxurious VIP hospitality provided by Explora Journeys.

“Our ambition at Explora Journeys is to redefine luxury at sea,” added Vago. “Like the design of the America’s Cup yachts, it is an ongoing, evolving challenge that we embrace with passion and dedication. With vessels like EXPLORA I and the forthcoming EXPLORA II (which we’ll be introducing shortly), we’re committed to setting new benchmarks in design and craftsmanship, sharing the same passion as the America’s Cup for maritime innovation and the relentless pursuit of perfection.

The partnership between Explora Journeys and the 37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton signifies a union of shared values, innovation and an enduring spirit of maritime adventure reflecting a deep knowledge and understanding of the ocean.

It also reinforces the MSC Group cruise division’s commitment to the port of Barcelona and the city itself, one of the group’s key destinations, where a new cruise terminal is being built that will be dedicated to Explora Journeys and sister company MSC Cruises when completed later this year. In addition to the 37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton celebrations aboard the EXPLORA I in Barcelona on June 19, the port of Barcelona will be visited regularly by the soon-to-be-launched EXPLORA II in summer and autumn 2024.

Learn more about the 37th America’s Cup Louis Vuitton by visiting this link.