Riptide Racing has announced its first formal partnership as it works to confirm a late American challenge for the 38th America's Cup. The team has signed with Pindar by Manuport Logistics, a specialist marine logistics company with an extensive track record in elite yacht racing. For a syndicate still working to confirm its place in the competition, aligning with such an established operator adds both practical capability and credibility to the campaign.
The American team is led by Chris Poole, currently ranked as the world's top match racing skipper. Riptide is pursuing entry before the 31 January 2026 deadline, which carries a late-entry requirement of USD 30 million, with the total campaign budget targeted at USD 50 million. Earlier confirmation that the syndicate would challenge under the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club provided the structural foundation a US challenge requires, and the Pindar by Manuport Logistics announcement builds on that.
For Poole, the logistics dimension of a Cup campaign is anything but an afterthought. "Mounting an America's Cup challenge is a massive undertaking with a huge number of moving parts," he says. "Effective management of our shipping and logistics is a key element in the potential success of our campaign, and we are delighted to have such an experienced partner as Pindar by Manuport Logistics in our corner."
The company brings considerable pedigree to the role. Pindar by Manuport Logistics has worked across the last four America's Cup cycles, supported teams and organisers through the last three editions of The Ocean Race, and has been active across a broad range of professional series including the GC32 Racing Tour, the Extreme Sailing Series, and the Star Sailors League Gold Cup. Their work spans yacht and equipment movement, event infrastructure, customs and compliance management, and contingency planning for campaigns operating across multiple countries and jurisdictions.
The arrangement is described as a partnership rather than a straightforward commercial logistics contract, a distinction that reflects the depth of the relationship between the two principals. Andrew Pindar, a partner in the company, points to years of shared history on the match racing circuit as the basis for that trust. "Chris and I have known each other for many years from the World Match Racing Tour, and I am confident he has the skills and personal drive to get this campaign over the line," he says.
Pindar also acknowledges the particular demands that come with working inside the America's Cup environment. "The America's Cup is a highly sensitive and secretive environment, and everyone in our organization fully understands the importance of confidentiality in the work we do." With the 2026 preliminary regattas already on the planning horizon and the 2027 Match set for Naples, the company has put considerable time into preparation, saying it has been "preparing for many months to continue to deliver efficiencies, savings, and excellent service" to its Cup clients.
Naples 2027 will be the first time Italy has hosted the America's Cup, with up to six teams expected to contest the event aboard AC75 foiling monohulls capable of reaching close to 60 miles an hour. A confirmed Riptide Racing entry would return the United States to the challenger fleet, adding further weight to what is shaping up as a competitive AC38 cycle. Securing a logistics partner with proven Cup experience is the kind of tangible progress that strengthens a fundraising case, and for Riptide, this partnership moves the campaign another step closer to the start line.
