America's Cup: Stars & Stripes Team USA confirmed as 2021 challengers

They're not the real deal - but Stars & Stripes Team USA have been confirmed as challengers for the America's Cup in 2021.

The American entry - the first all-US challenger in more than 15 years - has been lodged by the Long Beach Yacht Club, and accepted by Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Entries closed two weeks ago and Stars & Stripes, founded by Mike Buckly and Taylor Canfield, have become the fifth syndicate to confirm their involvement.

But relax, New Zealand, this is not the same San Diego Yacht Club outfit that haunted our sailors during the latter years of last century, led by 'Dirty Den'.

"Our name is a nod to Dennis Conner's 'Stars & Stripes' campaigns that define all-American America's Cup racing for decades," says Buckley. "We're the next generation."

Conner became the first American skipper to lose and then win back the America's Cup, launching the Stars & Stripes dynasty in the successful 1987 challenge off Fremantle, Australia.

But he became notorious in New Zealand for his brash style, once accusing his Kiwi rivals of cheating, when they introduced the world's first fibreglass 12m yacht.

Later, when confronted by TV current affairs presenter Paul Holmes and asked to apologise, Conner hastily ended the live interview and exited the studio

Dennis Conner and Stars & Stripes
Dennis Conner and Stars & Stripes, circa 1998. Photo credit: Photosport

He then chose to defend the trophy with a super-quick catamaran against New Zealand's lumbering giant monohull, before eventually losing the 'Auld Mug' to Team NZ in 1995.

Conner fronted again in 2000, but was eliminated in the challenger semi-finals, and his last America's Cup campaign ended in disaster three years later, when Stars & Stripes USA-77 sank and he was forced to sail a back-up boat.

This time, Canfield will lead the charge - he has been ranked among the world's top match-racing exponents for several years, winning the world title in 2013.

"This will be a defining moment for American Sailing," he says. "It has been my professional goal to compete in the America's Cup my whole life and I am confident we will be very competitive in Auckland."

Stars & Stripes become the second 'late' entry to the Prada-sponsored challenger series, after the tiny Mediterranean island nation of Malta confirmed its entry last week.

They join challenger-of-record Luna Rossa of Italy, Sir Ben Ainslie's INEOS Team UK and American Magic from the New York Yacht Club, with Kiwi Dean Barker at the helm. 

Newshub.