The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron released the 36th America's Cup Protocol today, and here are some of main points:
The Boat
* AC75 Class, 75-foot tall monohull. (Don't they mean 75-foot long?)
* Construction of two boats are permitted.
* Hulls must be laminated in the competitor's country.
* Each AC75 will be crewed by 10-12 sailors.
* Some one-design and/or standard single manufacturer elements will be used to contain costs.
* The official AC75 rule will be published by March 31st, 2018.
Sailing Crew
* Sailing crew nationality must be 20% or three crew members, whichever is higher, and must be nationals of the competing yacht club.
Race format
* Dates and venues will be announced by August 31, 2018.
* America's Cup World Series Preliminary Events: two events in the 2nd half of 2019, and three events in 2020.
* America's Cup Christmas Race: 10th to 20th December, 2020 (the Defender will also compete.)
* The Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series will be held January & February 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand.
* The Defender will not compete in the Challenger Selection Series.
* The America's Cup Match will be held March 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand.
* If New Zealand is unable to host the event, then Italy will be the alternate venue.
Source: PROTOCOL OF THE 36TH AMERICA’S CUP – Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
Links to the full protocol and summary documents are toward the page's bottom.
One other thing to note:
* Both foiling and non-foiling monohull options are being evaluated, and the fastest design will be chosen for the final design rule.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-...ally-cool-boat
Cheers!
Trainfan M