America's Cup: Late Entry date extension confirmed - US team gets more wriggle room.

The America's Cup © Jan Latussek / America's Cup

Quoting unnamed UK sources, international news agency Reuters has reported overnight (NZT), that the Late Entry date for the 38th America's Cup has been extended to the end of March 2026.

No official statement appears to have been issued by the America's Cup Defenders, Royal NZ Yacht Squadron/Emirates Team New Zealand. However subsequently the team has confirmed, to Sail-World, that the Late Entry date has been extended to March 31, 2026.

In the last published Protocol for the 38th America's Cup, the Late Entry date was set at 31st January 2026. That has now been extended by two months. The only team that has confirmed they are attempting a Late Entry is the US based Riptide Racing, led by top matcher, Chris Poole, challenging through the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. Ripride Racing announced their intentions on December 4, 2025.

A week later in a statement announcing their first sponsorship, with Pindar by Manuport Logistics, Riptide Racing said: "The team has set an overall fundraising goal of $50 million for the campaign but is aiming to raise around $30 million in order to meet the event’s January 31, 2026, late entry deadline."

They would now appear to have another couple of months to meet their self imposed target.

Emirates Team NZ were approached for comment, and confirmed the shift in date. Any alteration to the Protocol, or rules governing the conduct of the upcoming Match, requires the sign-off under the Mutual Consent provisions of the Deed of Gift which govern the conduct of all America's Cups. The provisions of the still secret 700 page America's Cup Partnership may also be in play.

Of the six teams that competed in the 2024 America's Cup in Barcelona, five were announced by the Defender on December 23 as having entered for the Naples event which will start on July 10, 2027. Each of the five have existing AC75 hulls which will be re-used in Naples.

The sixth team from 2024, American Magic, has said they were not intending to enter, but may compete in the 2029 Cup. Although it was speculated that American Magic would sell their 2024 assets to another team, that has not happened, and all indications are that the team intends to sit tight.

Some of the 2024 teams do have modified AC75s from the 2021 Cup in Auckland which could be used as mules, however they are unlikely to come up a competitive race standard for the 38th America's Cup, and would really only be a serious option if a team were engaged in a two-cycle America's Cup program.

The other option is for a new team to build a new AC75 to a design package used by one of the teams in the 2024 America's Cup. However construction deadlines are now tight, with the Cup set for July 2027, and the challenger selection series expected to start in May. It is reckoned that it takes 10-12 months from the sign-off of plans to the start of commissioning for a new AC75.

In an interview published in the weekend, Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton said that there was still 20,000hrs of work modifying an existing hull to comply with the new Cup rules, including the replacement of manual power with battery powered systems.

It is believed that Emirates Team New Zealand are continuing to be the organiser of the Naples event, pending the handover to a team from the America's Cup Partnership set up to organise future America's Cups under the control of a Board of Management, and comprising representatives from each of the teams.