Sailing-Team New Zealand confirm monohulls for next America's Cup

Sept 11 (Reuters) - The next edition of America's Cup racing will switch from catamarans to high-performance monohull yachts, defending champions Team New Zealand confirmed on Monday. Team New Zealand and challenger of record Luna Rossa are considering the possibility of the 36th America's Cup being staged in Auckland in 2021. "Currently there are a team of designers, lead by Emirates Team New Zealand design coordinator Dan Bernasconi working on various exciting monohull concepts which will eventually help shape the AC36 Class Rule," the team said in a statement. "Emirates Team New Zealand have been consulting with a number of potential challengers and there is an overall desire to have a spectacular monohull yacht that will be exciting to match race, but also one that the public and sailors can relate to as a sail boat that really challenges a full crew of professional yachtsman around the race track." Further protocol details will be announced later this month, added Team NZ, who beat Oracle Team USA 7-1 in Bermuda in June to lift international sport's oldest trophy. (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)