The America’s Cup is back, soaring to greater heights and media coverage than ever. The same boats as 2021, the same Defender, hoping to go down in history with the first hat-trick ever achieved by a winner of the Auld Mug, while new teams confirm the Cup’s unwavering appeal. Once again, the Mediterranean will set the stage, in Spain, where crews hidden within their hulls will tell us of their choices, their qualities, their boats, via a global coverage that approaches the spectacle of motor racing, a world increasingly overlapping with that of sailing.
The Cup is back and with it the Louis Vuitton Cup to name the challenger striving to add their name to the 36 who have already lifted the world’s oldest sporting trophy. It might be the Holy Grail of sailing, but it excites even those who know nothing about the sea, the wind, tacks or boats. The America’s Cup, even at its most sophisticated, stirs memories of the harmless childhood battles of makeshift boats. So, we welcome the Cup, hoping it might take us back to a simpler time, even if just for a while. An escape we sorely need.
Emilio Martinelli
