Turning to crowdfunding, Dutch eye bare-bones America’s Cup budget

Facing a tightening deadline, DutchSail, the group behind a Dutch entry in the 36th America’s Cup in 2021, is turning to crowdfunding and must yet find a main sponsor.

DutchSail CEO and AC entry skipper Simeon Tienpont is talking to three candidate-sponsors. “We must have a decision in the weeks ahead,” he tells Zeilen, the Netherlands’ leading sailing magazine. “We need to move forward, order material and build a boat.”

In 2021, New Zealand will defend the cup in a contest of 75ft foiling monohulls.

The up-in-the-air start of the Dutch AC campaign is visible in its website which, curiously, is in Dutch only.

In the Zeilen interview, Tienpont says the AC campaign can be staged 0n a budget of only €23 million – a fraction of that of rivals. For instance, INEOS, a privately-owned UK multinational chemicals company is committed to spend £110 million (€127.4 million) in sponsoring Ineos Team UK. The British entry already has a test boat on the water.

DutchSail, representing two Dutch yacht clubs, must cough up at least $2 million in the months ahead.

A non-profit, it has launched a crowdfunding scheme to raise €2.4 million from individuals and businesses over the next two years by issuing 1,000 certificates costing €100 a month. Tienpont told Zeilen at least 400 have been sold.

DutchSail must yet launch an AC75 although none of the teams has done that to date. In the 2021 contest, defender Emirates Team New Zealand faces six challengers: Luna Rossa (Italy), American Magic and Stars and Stripes (both USA), INEOS Team UK, Malta Altus Challenge and DutchSail