American Magic is an American yacht racing team formed to compete for the

36th America's Cup The 36th America's Cup in March 2021 was the latest staging of the America's Cup yacht race. It was contested on the inner Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, New Zealand, between the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Circolo della Vela Sicilia of It ...

. They represent the New York Yacht Club and were founded by formed in 2018 by principals Hap Fauth, Roger Penske, and Doug DeVos. American Magic was eliminated from the Prada Cup semi-finals by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on Saturday 30 January 2021, after 4 consecutive defeats. In August 2021 the Team signaled their intent to race in the

37th America's Cup The 37th America's Cup will be raced between a yacht representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and a yacht representing the yacht club that wins the '' Challenger Selection Series'' ( Prada Cup). It will be held in Barcelona, Spain in Se ...

competition.

History

The team was established in October 2017 with the intention to return the America's Cup to the United States and the NYYC. Management consists of John J. "Hap" Fauth's Bella Mente Racing,

Doug DeVos Doug DeVos (born October 6, 1964) is an American businessman and sailor. He is co-chairman (with Steve Van Andel) of Amway, which was co-founded by their fathers. DeVos is the chairman of the executive committee of the National Constitutional C ...

's Quantum Racing, and

Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, ...

under the NYYC burgee. The Team name, "American Magic" refers to the first Cup winner, the yacht ''America'' of

1851 Events January–March * January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion. * January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-day Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly. ...

, and the first defender, the yacht ''Magic'', who won in

1870 Events January–March * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Br ...

. The America's Cup trophy was held by the NYYC for 132 years until 1983. The NYYC's reign was the longest winning streak - as measured by years - in the history of all sports. Dean Barker was the helmsman, with

Terry Hutchinson Terry Hutchinson (born May 20, 1968) is an American sailor eleven-time world champion in the Corel 45, J/24, TP 52, Farr 40 and IMS classes, and a winning tactician of the Louis Vuitton Cup. In 2008 and 2014, he was named Rolex Yachtsman of t ...

as skipper.

36th America's Cup

The Team first entered international competition on 15 January 2021 in the

2021 Prada Cup The 2021 Prada Challenger's Trophy was a sailing competition held to determine the challenger in the 2021 America's Cup who would challenge Emirates Team New Zealand. The races were held from January 15 to February 21, 2021 in Auckland, New Zealan ...

. On 17 January during the round-robin stage ''Patriot'' capsized while rounding Gate 5 when a gust of wind caught the sails causing the leeward running backstay to not release and preventing the mainsail from being eased. No crew was reported injured but the incident caused a large hole in the hull and for a time it was at significant risk of sinking. Hutchinson and Barker were onboard. Per race rules, Luna Rossa Challenge was awarded the victory. The team returned to racing for the Prada Cup Semi-Final, but American Magic was eliminated from the competition by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on Saturday 30 January 2021, after 4 consecutive defeats.

37th America's Cup

On 16 August 2021, Hap Fauth announced the Team's intention to enter the

. Further that the Team named Scott Ferguson as lead Design Coordinator, previously with Luna Rossa (Rig Design Manager 2000-2007), Oracle Team USA (Wing / Rig Design Manager 2007-2013, Design Coordinator / Senior Designer 2014-2017). On 18 February 2022, American Magic announced their leadership team for the 37th America's Cup, with two notable changes, the addition of Mike Cazer as CEO and Tyson Lamond as COO. In May 2022, AM announced that Australian

Tom Slingsby Tom Slingsby (born 5 September 1984) is a successful Australian competitive sailor. Slingsby's first successes came sailing Laser dinghys, where he won three consecutive world championships and the 2012 Olympic gold medal. Slingsby was the st ...

had joined the team. Slingsby won Gold in the 2012 London Olympics in Men's Laser class and was on the 2013 America's Cup-winning Oracle Team USA. A likely competitor for the 37th America's Cup, Team INEOS Britannia skipper Sir Ben Ainslie also won a Gold Medal in the 2012 Olympics in the Finn class.

Fleet

The team has two America's Cup 75 class (

AC75 The AC75 (America's Cup 75) is a racing yacht used in the 2021 America's Cup match and planned to be used for the 37th America's Cup and 38th America's Cup matches. The monohulls feature wing-like sailing hydrofoils mounted under the hull ...

) boats. The AC75 is a 75 ft

sailing hydrofoil A sailing hydrofoil, hydrofoil sailboat, or hydrosail is a sailboat with wing-like foils mounted under the hull. As the craft increases its speed the hydrofoils lift the hull up and out of the water, greatly reducing wetted area, resulting in ...

monohull right A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Fundamental concept Among the earliest hulls were simple logs, but these were generally unsta ...

class specifically designed for the 36th America's Cup. The team also built an 'American Magic 38' (AM38) foiling monohull using a modified McConaghy 38 monohull, known as ''The Mule''.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official
website
Official
Youtube Page American Magic