New York Yacht Club has asked the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau to examine whether the new America’s Cup Partnership (ACP) is compatible with the Deed of Gift that has governed the trophy for more than 160 years.
The club argues that the new permanent governance and commercial structure introduced for the 38th America’s Cup risks fundamentally changing the competition from an open challenge trophy into a centrally managed regatta controlled by incumbent competitors.
The move potentially opens a significant legal front ahead of the 38th America’s Cup in Naples in 2027.
NYYC Questions Permanent Cup Authority
The America’s Cup is governed by the Deed of Gift, under which the yacht club holding the trophy acts as trustee. Traditionally, the Defender and the first valid challenger — the Challenger of Record — agree on the arrangements for each Cup cycle by mutual consent.
New York Yacht Club, which held the America’s Cup from 1857 until its defeat by Australia II in 1983, contends that the ACP departs from this structure by creating a standing organisation intended to exercise governance and commercial authority over future editions of the Cup.
The ACP describes itself as the first shared governance and commercial structure in the competition’s 175-year history, giving participating teams equal representation and voting power and replacing the traditional Defender-centred model.
It came into effect in November 2025 and is intended to manage commercial rights, revenues, contracts and other elements of the event across successive Cup cycles.
Right To Challenge Questioned
NYYC has also focused on the conditions imposed on prospective challengers.
Article 13.1 of the Protocol for the 38th America’s Cup provides that the Defender must accept a compliant challenger whose representative team joins the America’s Cup Partnership as a founding partner.
However, a compliant yacht club that does not join the partnership requires unanimous approval from the ACP Board for its challenge to be accepted. If that approval is not granted, the challenge is rejected.
NYYC argues that this could place a private body comprising existing competitors between an eligible yacht club and the right to challenge provided for under the Deed of Gift.
The club further contends that allowing the ACP to establish rules and structures applying to future matches could conflict with the Deed’s traditional cycle-by-cycle system of mutual consent between the Defender and Challenger of Record.
‘Questions Deserve Careful Review’
“The America’s Cup has endured for more than 170 years because the Deed of Gift provides a durable legal framework that cannot simply be reorganised at will,” NYYC Commodore Clare Harrington said.
“We hold the deepest respect for the competition and for every club that has held the Cup. Precisely because of that respect, we believe these questions deserve careful review under New York law.”
Harrington said NYYC’s objections concern the legal structure and process, not the conduct of any individual competitor.
“We are asking the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau to review the trustee’s administration of the trust and to obtain the undisclosed Partnership Agreements for examination,” she said.
NYYC says the agreements underpinning the partnership have not been made public and argues that a change of this magnitude could require amending the Deed and obtaining approval from the New York courts.
The Defender and Challenger of Record have taken a markedly different view. When the 38th America’s Cup Protocol was announced in August 2025, Emirates Team New Zealand described the ACP as a long-term structure intended to give teams, commercial partners and venues greater certainty while remaining consistent with the Deed of Gift.
The five teams presented as participants in the ACP in Naples in January were Emirates Team New Zealand, GB1, Luna Rossa, Tudor Team Alinghi and K-Challenge.
The 38th America’s Cup Match is scheduled to begin in Naples on July 10, 2027.
