The latest developments in the Copa América after the Barcelona failure

BarcelonaThe America's Cup sailing competition continues to explore ways to be an attractive competition. After the failure of the last edition, held in Barcelona, where spectator numbers fell far short of those announced by the organizers, a new proposal has been presented for the 2027 edition, to be held in Naples.

According to announcements from those responsible for the premier international sailing competition, the Cup teams have agreed to take a "guest" on their boat, who could be a famous person, be it a millionaire, a famous sponsor, or... influencer. The Cup, considered the oldest competition in modern sport, having been established in 1851, would thus seek to reach out to younger generations. The idea is that for the 38th edition of the tournament, which for the first time will be held in an Italian port, the crews will be made up of five sailors and a sixth person. Another agreed rule is that of the six crew members, at least two must have the same nationality as the boat. These changes are partly due to the decision to dispense with the cyclists who were on board the AC75 boats to generate energy. Their work will be replaced by batteries, thus reducing the crew.

Within the rules, it has also been agreed that each crew will also have at least one woman. The presence of a woman on board does not mean ending the proposal made in Barcelona in 2024, when a women's America's Cup was held for the first time. In 2027, the second edition of the women's America's Cup will be held, with AC40 boats. The Cup was won in Barcelona by the Italian Luna Rossa, who will defend their title in the Bay of Naples. In that edition, Sail Team Barcelona, led by Mònica Azón and Sílvia Mas, finished third. If they find sponsors, the members of this team could be in Naples in 2027.

The Cup, which takes place every two years

The champion team, Team New Zealand, proposes the conditions and rules, discussing them with the other teams. However, for this 2027 edition, they have modified the statutes to give more voice to the other boats and to try to achieve a stable calendar every two years. Previously, the Cup had no calendar: once a boat challenged the champion, everything was organized, but sometimes years had gone by without anything happening. Now the idea is to have a stable calendar, trying to take advantage of the fact that the event will be held for the first time in Italy, where there is more tradition than in Barcelona with these large boats.

The organizers have also proposed limiting the budget for each boat to €75 million, in part because the same AC75 boats that competed in Barcelona will compete, with some changes, such as the absence of cyclists. There are also changes to the competition format, with all competitors facing each other twice before a race between the all-around. The top four teams in this group stage will face each other in two semifinals.