Team owners who want to spend the tens of millions of dollars to enter the America’s Cup face a wall of challenges. The rules of the competition may be changed, almost on a whim. The type of boats they face in competition will not be known until the last minute. The America’s Cup Event Authority has altered its rules to lower many of these obstacles in a way the body believes will make the races more competitive.

The Cup, also known as the “Auld Mug,” was first awarded for the winner of a race between British and U.S. ships in 1851. These were the only two nations that could enter the race until the mid-1960s, when Australia challenged for the prize. Since then the boats have changed radically, without a way for other competitors to know what surprises in design might show up at the races themselves. This was because teams’ creativity stretched the rules for boat design. The most radical change in recent years was the winning boat in the most recent America’s Cup. Fielded by billionaire Larry Ellison, it was more like an airplane wing tipped on its side that anything close to a traditionally designed competitor. It cost well in excess of $100 million to design and sail in the competition.

America’s Cup Event Authority has decided the best way to level the field is for teams to disclose to one another how their boats will be built and what these cost, as well as establishing a set of rules that will be fixed so that teams will not need to scramble as the races approach. The new rules are meant to fix the cost of participation at between $30 million and $40 million. While this seems like a huge amount, it is much less than teams spend today. In theory, the lower price point will open the race to more competitors.

Larry Ellison, the current America’s Cup holder and team founder of ORACLE TEAM USA, said:

People who want to enter this race now know how much it will cost, what kind of boat they need to build and that the rules can’t change on them. They are now able to plan ahead, build a boat, build a team and come out and compete for their country.

It is an important concession by him since, as he is among the world’s richest people, his team had access to unprecedented funds.

The America’s Cup Event Authority wrote:

The framework agreement provides stability and gives interested teams an opportunity to plan longer term. It establishes a modern sporting, technology and design challenge, within which costs are controlled to provide a much lower entry price, which will encourage more teams to be involved and ultimately create larger audiences and help incentivize more people to go sailing.

The new rules will apply to the 2019 and 2021 competitions.

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