American sailing team Riptide Racing has confirmed it will not take part in the 38th America's Cup, announcing on 31 March that the funding required to formalise its challenge had not materialised in time. Despite progress that surprised many observers, the financial pieces did not come together before the deadline.
Skipper and CEO Chris Poole was candid about the situation, acknowledging that sponsorship discussions had been advancing and the money was drawing closer, but that the four months between announcing the challenge and the withdrawal proved too compressed a timeframe to get the deal across the line.
"Although we achieved significant commitments from financial backers and partners, we ran out of time to line everything up for the 38th America's Cup," Poole wrote.
Four months is, by most measures in professional sailing, an extraordinarily tight window in which to build a Cup campaign from the ground up. The America's Cup Partnership stepped in during January with a two-month extension, granting Riptide Racing additional time to continue conversations with potential backers. It bought breathing room, but not quite enough.
Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, the team's home club, was not about to let the moment pass without recognising the scale of what Riptide Racing had attempted. Commodore Julian P. Fisher II offered his public backing to Poole, stating: "Very few have the ability, vision, and determination like Chris to look at that timeline and pieces they had before them and say 'Yes, it is possible.'"
Poole is not treating the withdrawal as a full stop. The relationships built over these past months, with sponsors, prospective partners, and key figures throughout the Cup world, now form the starting point for a campaign targeting the 39th edition. With that cycle set to begin in roughly a year, the groundwork needs to start almost immediately.
"We look forward to sharing our progress as we look to the 39th America's Cup in 2029," he wrote.
For followers of the Cup in New Zealand, Riptide Racing's absence means one fewer challenger on the start line for the 38th edition. If Poole means what he says, the team may yet have a significant role to play when the 2029 cycle gets underway.
