Being the world’s most prestigious sailing event comes with a price: high stakes mean high dollars, and with high dollars there is bound to be more than a little controversy. But this year, the Americas Cup is making headlines almost weekly in relation to the 2017 event in Bermuda, and this week it’s the shock departure of contenders Luna Rossa (backed by Prada) after yet another rule change.

First it was the AC72, then it was The AC62, now it’s going to be the AC48. We’re referring to the class of yacht allowed to compete in the 2017 Americas Cup, with the numbers reflecting the overall length each craft is allowed to measure in feet. Reducing the size of the boats means a theoretical reduce in the cost to design and build it, but in Luna Rossa’s case, they were already well into the design phase of their AC62.

So when a proposed rule change was passed around the table earlier this year, the sailing team from Luna Rossa chose not to accept it (this was the further reduced boat length rule), along with Team New Zealand who rejected the proposal on the basis that an event was to be moved from Auckland to Bermuda. Two against, four in favour, the boats got shorter, the event got moved.

This left two sailing teams unhappy, one with a large sum of wasted design money, and one with their funding pulled due to the event move, so what better way to show the world your distain, than to hold a press conference. To cut a long press conference short, Luna Rossa made good on their promise to leave the Americas Cup.

With them gone, it leaves a huge gap in the lineup; one which the worlds sailing community previously enjoyed immensely thanks to the team from Luna Rossa’s excellent race record and inventive designs. Consider the fact that Team Australia have also bowed out of the event, Team New Zealand probably can’t afford to challenge the cup, and now this from Luna Rossa, could this be the beginning of the end for the Americas Cup?

It is hoped that with the newly reduced costs to enter the worlds highest profile sailing race, more countries will choose to enter. Rumors are flying around the internet about an Asian team designing a boat based on the new AC48 rules, and now the British and French teams are pushing hard with fresh funding behind them.

What ever happened to the good old days of Australia II? Oh wait, the year 1983 was full of controversy also! Check out what could have been, with Luna Rossa's promo video released back in November 2014.

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