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America's Cup: New challenger 'Stars & Stripes' joins battle for Auld Mug

The syndicate, from the Long Beach Yacht Club, is the second US challenger for the 2021 event after the New York Yacht Club-backed American Magic.
The team becomes the fifth challenger to take on defender Team New Zealand, a week after the Royal Malta Yacht Club also declared its intention to compete.
Stars and Stripes is named after the series of Dennis Conner entries of the 1980s, culminating in victory against Australian defender Kookaburra III in 1987.
"Our name is a nod to Dennis Connor's Stars & Stripes campaigns that defined all-American, America's Cup racing for decades. We are the next generation," said co-founder Mike Buckley.
The team, which will announce its sailing roster in early 2019, has begun building its AC75 foiling monohull yacht in Michigan after buying a design and technology package from Team New Zealand.
"Stars & Stripes and their yacht club are the reflection of the new America's Cup; they value the history of the trophy and the event while wholeheartedly accepting the technological challenge that the new AC75 class represents," said Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand.
"We are really proud to have two American teams competing in this America's Cup. United States is a country with outstanding America's Cup sailing tradition and expertise."
Italy's Luna Rossa and INEOS Team UK, bankrolled by Britain's richest man Jim Ratcliffe, are the other challengers for the 36th America's Cup.
Emirates Team New Zealand beat Larry Ellisson's Oracle Team USA to win the Cup in Bermuda 2017.

'Can't buy time'

The radical and unproven AC75 boats, developed by Emirates Team New Zealand in close conjunction with principle challenger Luna Rossa, will push the designers to their limits as they strive to come up with the fastest hull shapes and foil packages in line with the class rules. Each team can build two, with the first to be launched no sooner than March 31, 2019.
With the America's Cup set to begin on March 6, 2021, and with a number of warm-up regattas and the Prada Cup to determine the sole challenger to take on the Kiwis before that, the clock is ticking.
"You can have as much money as you want but you can't buy time," said Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena at a news conference in Cowes, England in September.

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