Being last to enter an America’s Cup cycle is never a good look, but the Australian entry could be different. PlanetSail's Matt Sheahan considers the possibility.
History suggests that winning the America’s Cup is about painstaking preparation, a well established team on shore and afloat, lots of money and a long runway to the match.
At least that’s how its been for a very long time.
But now the latest team to enter the 38th Cup has none of these and while it’s tempting to consider the Australians as outsiders because of this, there’s also a case for making an exception. Team Australia is not like other Cup teams, as PlanetSail's Matt Sheahan explains.
But whatever the outcome, the other thing that’s significant about the Australian announcement is that it takes the total number of Challengers to the biggest we’ve seen since the heady days of Valencia for the 32nd America’s Cup in 2007. And given the current climate, both financially and globally, that’s pretty impressive.
It’s not unprecedented for top sailors in IMOCA to return to the Figaro class, but it’s quite unusual and this season several of IMOCA’s established skippers have been doing just that.
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