As we countdown to the 35th America’s Cup The Royal Gazette will bring you a series of fun facts about the boats, the sailors, the crew, and the history of this illustrious competition. There are now just two days until the month-long sporting spectacle gets under way.

The America’s Cup will change after next month, with the competition entering a new era governed by new rules.

Earlier this year the skippers and team leaders revealed a framework agreement that would cover the next two editions, the 36th and 37th America’s Cup, due to take place in 2019 and 2021 respectively. Racing in the 35th America’s Cup will take place in Bermuda in May/June of this year and the 36th America’s Cup cycle will commence thereafter.

“Today we can announce that a new framework agreement has been created, determining the format of the next two America’s Cup cycles, its protocols and its class rules,” announced Martin Whitmarsh, the CEO of Land Rover BAR, a challenger for the 35th America’s Cup.

“This agreement is about a format long overdue in competitive sailing. The boats and the racing are incredibly exciting to watch - whether you are a sailor yourself or not. This will now reinforce the America’s Cup as the world’s supreme grand prix racing for sailing.” noted Torbjörn Törnqvist, Artemis Racing’s Team Founder and Principal.

Iain Murray, Regatta Director of the 35th America’s Cup said, “There’s a void to be filled and the overwhelming message from all the people in the America’s Cup is let’s grab this opportunity and run with it.”

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.