America's Cup: Pro-sailors will have to choose between the League or the Cup.
by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ 26 Sep 2025 22:51 AEST
27 September 2025
The spectacle of SailGP's stadium racing is pulling fans to SailGP events © Jonathan Nackstrand/SailGP
The tectonic plates of the sailing world, SailGP and America's Cup, are on a collision course.
Some minor contact may occur next year, with the Big Bang expected in 2027, when significant schedule clashes are anticipated.
With the announcement of Nathan Outteridge joining the latest SailGP team, Artemis Racing (SWE), all of Emirates Team New Zealand's sailing team from the 2024 America's Cup are now competing on the SailGP circuit.
A similar situation exists with three other teams from the 2024 America's Cup.
In April of this year, when it was announced that Peter Burling would be leaving Emirates Team New Zealand, CEO Grant Dalton commented in several media interviews: "You can't do everything. If you want to be helming in the Cup, that's got to be the number one priority." He noted that there were 119 other team members and that "2027 is a pretty unaccommodating time for us; we have to have all of our people in place, all of the time"
To date, the America's Cup and SailGP teams have been able to work their testing and racing commitments around each other's schedule. With the upcoming cap on sailing days to 45 days in 2026 and 45 days in 2027, and 35days each period in paired AC40s, until the start of the Cup, that won't be so easy. For SailGP team members, travelling to an event on the other side of the world means that at least six days are lost to a Cup program, possibly seven days.
As Grant Dalton said in a second interview on April 11, about the clash between the League and the Cup. "There comes a time when they clash, and I think they will clash in 2027, then it's naive of anybody to think that you can do both."
"We need our people here, the team here in 2027 - pretty much all the time. Sure, the sailing team has to race. But this [America's Cup] has to be their #1 priority. Frankly, as far as I am concerned, it's the only priority. It's the only thing that matters. You won't win four times if it's not."
On paper, a sailor's total leave-pass time from an AC team is about 90 days a year to undertake SailGP duties. And 80 days a year for an AC75 and paired AC40 testing. Then there is simulator training for both.
Hamish Willcox, one of the world's top sailing coaches, is well accustomed to trying to fit Olympic and America's Cup programs together for the past decade or more.
He agrees with Grant Dalton that, to some extent, the Cup and League complement each other, as Cup teams know they need to keep their sailors' racing sharp. SailGP provides regular racing between top Olympic and America's Cup sailors in crewed, wingsailed, foiling boats.
"I guess you look at it from two ways," Willcox explains.
"One, in my view, is that SailGP is the only sort of similar type racing [to the America's Cup]. "You're quite isolated in the Cup, in that you're not able to do a lot of racing, and so it's easy to lose those race skills.
"Those skills involve performing under pressure and getting a team around you, and all those things that you need to have to win."
"So Sail GP is probably the thing that can provide that the best."
"And then on the other side of the coin, you've got an America's Cup juggernaut that needs people."
SailGP's growing pains
SailGP is increasing the number of teams and venues.
That expansion now results in December being the only month of the year when SailGP does not have an event scheduled. The next step is to host multiple SailGP regattas in geographically close venues within the same month, as is the case with F1 and its "Circuit of the Americas," which takes in several North and South American venues.
Pulling just as hard in another direction is the America's Cup, with its limitation on sailing days in both AC75s and AC40s.
"I think we'll know this answer after the Cup," Willcox laughs. "But at this stage, I think it's really hard to say where the balance lies."
"If I were a Cup team, I'd be quite nervous having all my sailors just involved in the Cup and not upskilling themselves in a racing manner somewhere else. And at the same time, if I had all my horses in the SailGP, then that clearly drags the Cup team down in terms of its performance, being able to test and all those things."
"You've got to have enough of your AC team test sailing that your records are not compromised. That means you've got to have depth in the team, and you bring people into that group who you know and trust, who can steer and trim the boat in the AC40 context."
Jumping across to the parallel universe of Formula 1, would Red Bull Racing give Max Verstappen time off to drive in the Indy 500, and have Yuki Tsunoda conduct his test driving, expecting the same test results as Max? Of course not.
Followers of F1, particularly those who watch the Practice Sessions, will be well aware of how critical it is to get the car's setup just right. While teams swap notes within their own teams, there is certainly not a one-size-fits-all approach, which could be the case in the America's Cup if there are separate testing and sailing teams for the Cup raceboats.
Making the front running?
Some would argue that the League, with its constant exposure and big prize money, has overtaken the Cup.
SailGP began in 2019 with just five events and six teams, and by 2025, it had expanded to 13 events and 12 teams. The just-announced Swedish team will join the League in 2026. A 14th team will join in 2027, along with a likely expansion in events.
Earlier this year in Auckland, SailGP CEO Russell Coutts spoke of having a qualifying round of eight teams on either side of the draw, or 16 teams in total.
That's not to forget that there is substantial investment in SailGP, with teams trading for upwards of US$50 million, and equity splits occurring as A-listers and others buy into privately owned teams.
Given the level of buy-in, not to mention the sponsorships involved, stakeholders expect their marque sailors to be involved in every regatta.
From the SailGP team's and sailors' perspective, there is substantial prizemoney at stake - per regatta - and in the Grand Final at the end of each Season.
The prize money now available in SailGP may also tip any split-loyalty decision the League's way.
In Season 5, there is $US800,000 in prize money for each of the 12 lead-up events in SailGP, with the winner taking USD$400,000 and the remaining amount shared among the other two teams that podium in the event. There's a total of USD $12.8 million in prize money for Season 5.
There's no prize money in the America's Cup, just a winner's medal for each team member, and the eternal glory of being an America's Cup winner.
Testing efficiency is vital
Compared to the 2024 America's Cup buildup, the new restrictions on sailing and testing time make sobering reading.
Outwardly, testing demands appear to have softened slightly with the announcement that teams will have to sail their 2024 AC75 hulls in the America's Cup.
However, there is still plenty of design and testing ahead, including masts, wing foils, rudders, sails, and the new all-electric powered boat, which is 565 kg lighter than the 2024 model.
Under the latest version of the America's Cup Protocol, teams are allowed to test sail 45days in their AC75s for the 12 months beginning January 15 2026, and another 45days until the start of the first Preliminary Regatta.
Due to the 2022-2024 Reconnaissance Program ending two months before the start of the 2024 Louis Vuitton Cup on August 29, 2024, complete test sailing statistics are not available.
However, as of the end of the Recon period, American Magic for example had logged 138 days in their two AC75s. Comparing their 2027 America's Cup AC75 testing quota of a total of 90 sailing days, against the actual 2024 AC testing days, American Magic ran at over 150% of their 2027 quota - and that didn't include that final two months leading into the Cup.
Alinghi started test sailing in September 2022 with their AC75, completing 158 test days until June 22, 2024, for 175% of their 2027 quota. In the lead-up to June 22, 2024 the Kiwis sailed 68 days in the AC75s for just 75% of their 2027 quota. They would have gone close to the 90days in the last two months of the 2024 campaign to hit 100% of their 2027 quota.
The full story of the 2024 Cup stats can be read here.
The teams all used a different balance of AC75 testing and two boat testing in AC40's, with two teams sailing special test boats (LEQ12s) which are now not permitted.
Regardless of how you slice it, with the exception of the Kiwis the 2022-24 testing times were generally well above the 2026-27 allowances.
The bottom line is that on the basis of the last America's Cup test sailing, there is limited flexibility in the 2027 cycle to accommodate the SailGP leave passes.
A "Fun" Olympics?
The Olympics, too, could be hit, as sailors will have to make some difficult choices.
Willcox thinks that the proposed new single-race, winner-takes-all Olympic formats might change some top sailors' approach to what used to be the pinnacle of the sport.
"Psychologically, it's almost easier to manage that style of event, if you haven't devoted four years, if you've got other sailing going on."
"If you're an Olympic sailor and there's four years of your life hanging on that one that last race, you're taking a lot more pressure compared to someone for whom it's just another part of the year for them."
"Like a top tennis player or golfer who has that Olympic medal for fun. But if they don't win an Olympic Gold, it's just a blip - we've got plenty going on elsewhere in our lives - like next tournament on the professional circuit."
In previous years, Hamish Willcox has worked with crews and teams attempting to run Olympic programs, including competing in SailGP and the America's Cup.
He says that it "was too much" with Peter Burling and Blair Tuke trying to run all three together.
"It's a fine line between doing too much and not overloading. And that's where Pete and Blair were so good at pushing the boat right to the edge.
"But as you get older, you get more things happening in your life with family and houses and things, and so you don't have that time capacity that you used to have."
Willcox also coached the Spanish crew of Diego Botin and Florian Trittel in their 49er and SailGP programs, winning the Olympic Gold medal and the SailGP Grand Final.
"I think it is possible to do two things, but definitely not three," he reflects.
That was in 2024.
2027 could be very different - with the "fun" event of the 2028 Olympics to follow as a consolation regatta after the Cup is over.
But whatever happens with the Oympics, the Cup veterans' dilemma could prove to be the big opportunity for younger sailors wanting to break into the America's Cup, or SailGP, and fill the gaps left by the retirees.