

Speaking to a select group of sailing media last night on a Zoom call alongside Emirates Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton, Ainslie said: “I think it’s going to be anywhere between four and seven teams – that’s the reality. Of course we want all seven – that would be amazing – but we will know in the next couple of weeks.”
Less than 48 hours earlier, and after many months of behind-the-scenes wrangling and intense negotiation between the existing America’s Cup teams and other interested parties, the news broke that the long-awaited America’s Cup Partnership agreement had finally been signed by all parties.