The Malta Altus Challenge (MAC) of Royal Malta Yacht Club will participate in 36th America’s Cup, which is going to take place in the year 2021. This for the first time that a yacht belongs to a small Mediterranean archipelago has defied for the impressive sailing trophy that is 167-year-old.

The organizers of America’s Cup in a statement said,” Altus has now been accepted as the confirmed challenger and it is the fourth challenger for the “Auld Mug” in the year 2021 in Auckland when the Yacht Squadron of Royal New Zealand will be defending the title.

There is one crew only, which will move forward to fight with the defenders of the cup in the head-to-head series of best-of-13 with the victorious challengers determined in the freshly launched series that is Prada Cup. Many other challengers have been confirmed for the 2021 America’s Cup and the name of those is Challenger of Record Luna Rossa (CORLR) hailing from Italy, United States American Magic and NEOS Team of UK Britain.

The CEO of New Zealand Emirates, Grant Dalton said while welcoming Maltese team, “We are aware that it is akin to be a little team facing long odds taking one of the sport’s biggest challenges and we all wish them the best.” New Zealand’s sailing team Emirates won the respected trophy in the year 2017 and it snatched the trophy from Bermuda’s Oracle Team USA.

Pasquale Cataldi, who is the Malta Altus Challenge team principal, said “Our aim is to make the 3 series of prestigious America’s Cup. To build a solid team, you need a commitment to three cycles of America’s Cup.” In addition to Malta Altus Challenge (MAC), seven other prospective challengers have placed applications for joining the contest ahead of the deadline.