Image: Hamish Hooper

The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has advised that today they received a notice from the Royal Malta Yacht Club officially withdrawing the Malta Altus Challenge from the 36th America’s Cup.

“This is a disappointing outcome.” said Grant Dalton, “The Malta Altus Challenge had a strong foundation with some highly experienced and reputable America’s Cup personnel linked to the team.

So, for them to pull out is not just a shame for the event but also for those people that have worked so hard trying to get this challenge to the start line. We hope they will continue to build on their foundation over the next 18 months with a view to the future and challenging for the 37th America’s Cup.”

“We are wanting the Prada Cup to include as many teams as possible.” Said Laurent Esquier CEO of the Challenger of Record.

“While we have done all we can to support the Malta Altus Challenge, they haven’t been able to bring together all the layers of complexity that are needed to continue with an America’s Cup challenge. We are still guaranteed to have an exciting and highly competitive Prada Cup to select the final challenger to race against Emirates Team New Zealand in the Match.”

The two remaining late challengers, Stars + Stripes USA and DutchSail will confirm their ongoing commitment to the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada by July 1st.

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