America's Cup Partnership names its CEO

The America's Cup Partnership has confirmed what we suspected back in February: Marzio Perrelli is the new CEO.

The 57-year-old Roman spent over two decades in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and HSBC before pivoting to sports media as Executive Vice President at Sky Italia, where he oversaw Formula 1 rights renewals and helped position foiling sailing alongside MotoGP and Serie A as a mainstream broadcast product.

"Our responsibility today, on behalf of all stakeholders, is to preserve its deep heritage while ensuring greater continuity, stability and long-term growth," Perrelli said in a statement.

It's the kind of language you'd expect from someone steeped in corporate governance – but if the ACP delivers on its promise of a biennial cycle and long-term broadcast deals, it would represent a genuine shift from the stop-start scheduling that has frustrated the sport for decades.

Perrelli inherits a growing fleet. Last week the ACP confirmed that multiple late entries had been lodged ahead of the 31 March deadline, putting at least seven teams on the start line for Naples. Dalton, who stays on as ACP chairman, called it "a unique position in sport at a time of huge opportunity", and with women set to race aboard the AC75s for the first time, there's a sense that the Cup is trying to broaden its appeal.

The question now is how quickly that vision translates into racing. The first Preliminary Regatta in Cagliari, Sardinia is in just over six weeks, running from 21-24 May, and beyond that the calendar remains blank until the Cup match itself in Naples, July 2027.

If the ACP is serious about continuity and engagement, fans need more than one regatta and a distant finale to sink their teeth into. Can Perrelli deliver? Let's see.