12 teams for the Atlantic Cup

Four late entries including the new Mabire-Merron weapon

Four additional teams have entered the 2016 Atlantic Cup, presented by 11th Hour Racing, increasing the international field of Class40s from the USA, France, Spain, Sweden, Canada and Great Britain to 12. The four teams announced include: Carac, Campagne de France, Eärendil, and Privateer.
 
Several accomplished sailors recently joined the field including two-time British Olympic team meteorologist and former Team SCA Volvo Ocean Race navigator, Libby Greenhalgh. Her co-skipper, Canadian Liz Shaw is Canada’s youngest National Race Officer. The duo is competing in the first leg of the race while Hobie Ponting (Oakcliff – USA) and a yet to be named co-skipper will sail legs two and three. Louis Duc (Carac – FRA), 2015 Transat Jacques Vabre third place finisher; Jeffrey Brock (Pleiad – USA), former Volvo Ocean Race sailor and French ocean racing legend Halvard Mabire and his British co-skipper, Miranda Merron on Campagne De France are new additions to the race, shaping up for a tough field of competitors in the fifth edition of the Atlantic Cup.
 
“I am really looking forward to competing in this year's Atlantic Cup and excited to be teaming up with Liz to race as the first all-female team to compete in the Cup,” said Greenhalgh. “This race will be challenging with the strong competition, tough course and also a new experience for me racing short-handed. I think it is important to have good role models out there for young women to see the pathway in sailing and it will be great to make a little bit of history and challenge more to follow us!”

 
The Class40s will set sail from Charleston, S.C., on Saturday, 28 May at 1200 ET bound for Brooklyn, N.Y., for the second leg of the competition and a Pro-Am event over 31 May-3 June, before departing on June 4 at 12 p.m. ET, on the final leg of competition. The biennial event culminates in Portland, Maine, with two days of inshore racing and the Atlantic Cup Festival, June 10 and 11. 
 
Event organizers also announced the return of official beer partner Pabst Blue Ribbon, and welcomed Hyatt Place Portland and AARP of Maine as race partners for the Portland stopover.
 
The list of boats competing in the 2016 Atlantic Cup is as follows:

The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing is, at 1,045 nautical miles, the longest offshore race in the Western Atlantic. The Atlantic Cup was created and is owned by Manuka Sports Event Management. It started in 2011 as a concept event and grew to a multi-stage race. Since its inception, the Atlantic Cup has aimed to be the most environmentally responsible sailing race in the United States. The race is sailed solely doublehanded in Class40s.
 
The Atlantic Cup ran annually in May from 2011 until 2014 when it became biennial. The course in 2011 was a sprint from New York to Newport with an inshore series in Newport. From 2012-2014, the race was a three-stage event that started in Charleston, South Carolina included a stop-over in New York City and finished in Newport, Rhode Island. In 2016, the Atlantic Cup will continue to comprise of three legs, with stop-overs in Charleston, S.C., Brooklyn, N.Y., and for the first time, Portland, Maine.