SAN DIEGO (AP) — America’s Cup officials have dropped plans for a warmup regatta on the Hudson River in New York in late May so teams and organizers can prepare for sailing’s marquee event this summer on San Francisco Bay.
That decision leaves one final America’s Cup World Series regatta in 45-foot, wing-sailed catamarans, in Naples, Italy, April 16-21. A regatta planned for Venice, Italy, was scrapped due to a financial dispute.
America’s Cup Event Authority CEO Stephen Barclay says there was a great deal of interest in a New York regatta but it would be too close to the July 4 start of the Louis Vuitton Cup for foreign challengers. The Louis Vuitton Cup winner will face defending champion Oracle Team USA in the 34th America’s Cup beginning Sept. 7.
