After such a successful return to the public spotlight, the Americas Cup fleet might return to monohulls in 2021, and NOT be the fully foiling speed machines we saw this year in Bermuda.

In talks since Team New Zealand won the cup, the teams manager Grant Dalton eluded to some very interesting plans between them and Circolo della Vela Sicilia, challenger to the cup and club behind Luna Rossa. As far as the stories go, back in 2015 when Italian billionaire Patrizio Bertelli handed over their plans and $30 million in funding to help them win the 2017 cup, he also handed them an agreement about what the next cup would look like, if New Zealand were to win.

Guess what? New Zeland won, and within hours of them winning the cup, Bertelli's team Luna Rossa announced they were challenging for it.

Going back to 2015 for a second, one of the main reasons why Bertelli withdrew from the race, was the fact that it was to be races with foiling catamarans. Now the foiling part wasn't the problem, it was the catamarans, and the giant winged sails using hydraulic power that he objected to (and subsequently gave all his research over to Team New Zealand).

So, what could an Italian billionaire who loves monohulls, and a team manager/CEO who spent his life racing in the Volvo Ocean race (on monohulls) be cooking up?

We'll leave that for you to decide, but until someone's loose lips sink ships, ponder this. Team New Zealand were the only team not to sign an agreement locking in the foiling catamaran for the next cup…

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