AC38: 6 things we learned today in Naples

Against the opulent backdrop of Naples' Palazzo Reale – all frescoed ceilings and gilded mirrors – the America's Cup teams, sponsors, and organisers gathered this morning to officially launch the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup. The main event: the formal initiation of the America's Cup Partnership (ACP), a new governing body designed to bring stability to the world's oldest sporting trophy.

Here's what we learned…

In defending the Cup, the Defender has always dictated terms of all aspects of the racing, in agreement with the Challenger of Record. So I arrived today wondering how much power the Defenders, Emirates Team New Zealand and Challenger of Record GB1 had truly yielded. A considerable amount, it turns out.

"The Defender has no more right than any other team in the organisation of the event," Grant Dalton said flatly. Sir Ben Ainslie agreed, admitting the Challenger of Record title is now more "symbolic" – dealing mostly with logistics like base allocation rather than rule-writing.

This was reinforced by Lourdes Millet, general counsel for TUDOR Team Alinghi, who was instrumental in setting up the Partnership. She confirmed that a new, independent CEO will be appointed to run the ACP, removing event management from the Defender's direct control. "The Defender has been generous and has said, I understand that if we don't do this there may not be an America's Cup. So a change is necessary."

With no word from American Magic or Chris Poole’s Riptide Racing, it’s looking extremely likely this will be the first America’s Cup without an American team in its 175-year history. When I asked Grant Dalton about teams joining for future editions, he was explicit that while the door is open now, the cost of entry is designed to rise. He cited F1, noting that in 2005 teams were bankrupt while franchises now cost hundreds of millions.

"Next cycle or the cycle after, the value for the teams will be increasing and therefore it will cost more to join, but the franchise will get more valuable," Dalton said.

One of the ACP’s stated goals is asset appreciation for the current stakeholders, so if American Magic or any other prospective team wants back in for the next Cup, they may face a much steeper buy-in.

He also confirmed that beyond the glory of winning the Cup, there should eventually be a financial incentive: "The Defender, in the distribution of any profit, like any league, will get more money once there is a profit. There is no profit at the moment, but that's really the advantage the Defender will have."

The newly-branded GB1 currently only features one helm: Dylan Fletcher. Ainslie joked that Dylan – who three days ago won the Perth Sail Grand Prix for reigning champions Emirates GBR – is doing so well "at the moment that we decided he could sail the boat on his own."

CEO Ian Walker described Ainslie's potential involvement as a "luxury." The team is being built around Fletcher, but Ainslie remains the ultimate insurance policy "should we require or should he choose to" return to the wheel.

After spending the last 14 months focused on the ACP deal and securing capital from Oakley Capital, Ainslie has stepped back from the boat. When pressed, Ainslie was clear. "I haven't made any decisions whether I'm going to be on the boat or not. I haven't been focused at all on the sailing side," he said. Now, as they move forwards, some big decisions need to be made. That will happen in the next couple of months.

Alinghi dropped out of the Cup in April before being announced as a founding partner of the ACP in December. "We pulled out because there were some things where we were not fully aligned," Lourdes Millet told me. "But there is a shared interest in this Partnership."

Signing the Partnership wasn't just a business move. It was a rescue mission to stop the Cup from "vanishing." Millet gave me a stark warning. "We were all convinced that if we don't do it this way, the Cup will vanish because we cannot afford to have teams fire the employees at the end of the cycle," she said. "It's not sustainable."

Millet also told me the idea wouldn't have come to fruition without the Swiss team. In fact, apparently the ball started rolling during the last edition, in June 2024 when Ernesto Bertarelli came to her to see if it could be done. From then, it was about convincing the other teams to join – a long drawn-out process of backroom dealings.

All the teams signed an agreement that if one wins and becomes the Defender, they commit to continue with the partnership model. "We commit – and we have done it freely without any pressure from anyone – to continue," Millet added.

Other teams might not attribute quite so much doing to the Swiss camp, but the point is they've got it across the line. And everyone seems happy with how it's going so far.

Naples is officially a neutral venue managed by the ACP, but Luna Rossa is treating it like a home defence. Luna Rossa’s CEO Max Sirena looked forward to the local support – "there's nothing like the Napoli fans. I mean, they are amazing!"

Sirena is framing this as Luna Rossa's mission to stop the Kiwis from winning four in a row. "Our goal, as always, is to give our very best," Sirena said in the official presentation. "Of course, we feel the responsibility of racing in our own country in front of thousands of fans, but at the same time this will give us an extra boost to face the challenge in the best possible way."

For all the ACP's talk of neutrality, the Italian fans will make Naples feel anything but neutral when racing starts later this year.

If SailGP is the Champions League, then AC is the World Cup. That’s the comparison Grant Dalton used to shut down the idea of the Cup becoming a "circuit", emphasising that it should remain a unique event that happens every few years, while allowing SailGP to handle the regular season.

"The Champions League and the World Cup can exist in harmony with each other," Dalton said. "We always need to stay unique, we always need to stay as the technology part of the sport."

Chief operating officer of ETNZ Kevin Shoebridge insisted they've managed the overlap over the last couple of campaigns. "You can coexist and you can make it work," he said, noting that when you're running a testing and development programme you can't sail the whole time anyway. "It's not all about how much time you spend on the water, it's really about the quality of time you spend on the water."

While the Kiwis say they can coexist, Nicolas Rolaz, sailor for Alinghi who also recently joined the Canadian SailGP team, admitted that while 2026 is fine, the 2027 schedule is "a big question" regarding conflicts for athletes sailing in both leagues.

My favourite part of the presentation was the cultural welcome led by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, the Auckland-based Māori iwi representing the current Defender, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Emirates Team New Zealand.

The group recognised the creation of the ACP and welcomed all teams to the Partnership before presenting Pounamu taonga – greenstone treasures – to the founding team members on stage. Each of the five team heads touched foreheads with the Māori performers in a traditional greeting. These taonga represent strength, the heritage of the America's Cup, respect for all teams that have gone before and a connection to an exciting future.

A far cry from the usual pomp and circumstance of the world's oldest sporting trophy – and not what you'd expect to see in an Italian Royal Palace! Only in the America's Cup…