A Dutch syndicate representing the Netherlands based Royal Netherlands Yacht Club Muiden and Royal Maas Yacht Club has been accepted as a challenger for the 36th edition of the America’s Cup to be held in Auckland, New Zealand in 2021.
The announcement made by America’s Cup-holders Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron a few hours ago brings the number of challenging teams up to six – two more than took part at the 35th edition in Bermuda in 2017.
Although not officially confirmed in the official press release, the Netherlands challenge is led by Dutchman Simeon Tienpont – a two-time winner of the America’s Cup with ORACLE Team USA – and backed by a cooperative of Netherlands-based marine businesses.
The inclusion of the Dutch squad in the 36th America’s Cup comes hot on the heels of the announcements in the last fortnight of two other challengers – the Malta Altus Challenge and Stars & Stripes Team USA.
The three latest teams join the original challenger trio of Luna Rossa (ITA), NYYC American Magic (USA) and INEOS Team UK (UK) to compete in the Prada Cup challenger series in 2021 to decide which team will face off against Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America’s Cup match.
That means that, including the defending New Zealand team, there could now be seven teams involved in the 36th America’s Cup – the most since the 32nd America’s Cup in 2007 in Valencia.