Vision Nautica Blog

America's Cup: Stormy waters

2007-06-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

By Stuart Alexander in Valencia - The Independent

The bigger they come the harder they fall, and aftershock tremors continue to rumble after the crash of the €120m (£81.25m) BMW Oracle bid to win the America's Cup. Big Brother has nothing on the fall from grace and eviction of one Christopher Stuart Dickson from his previous fiefdom.

How did it happen? How could such an expensively crafted machine fall to bits so comprehensively in front of a disbelieving world? Do not look at the boat and sails; they were a match for anyone. Do not look at the crew who raced them; they are as skilled as anyone.

Look instead at the mantra which says the America's Cup is first and foremost a management exercise. Examine the leadership and inspiration, qualities so vital in sport, and there you see the cracks in the American-flagged, New Zealand-dominated campaign. > more

Barcelona Race 2007

2007-06-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

The Barcelona World Race is a new two-handed, non-stop round the world yacht race starting on the 11th November, 2007 [and to be held every four years]. For the first time, this race will see the world's best professional sailors from both solo and fully crewed disciplines coming together to compete against each other in teams of two. Racing 25,000 miles over three months across the planet's most hostile and challenging oceans in high-performance IMOCA Open 60 monohulls. Never before has a two-handed, non-stop around the world race been staged and there has never been a crewed, non-stop round the world race in monohulls. This concept opens up a whole new world of possibilities in the sport of extreme offshore sailing both in terms of competition and race communications.

The Barcelona World Race will see sailors from the two worlds of solo sailing events, such as the famous Vendée Globe, and crewed events, like the Volvo Ocean Race [VOR], coming together to race in a unique format. The timing of this new global race also acts as a prelude to the Vendée Globe [to be held over the winter of 2008/09] providing an opportunity for skippers to fully test themselves and their boats before their solo circumnavigation. The prologue qualification event is planned to include stops in the UK and France, reuniting the fleet in Barcelona mid-October 2007.

New Zealand celebrates, looks to America's Cup

2007-06-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

Gurdian Unlimited

New Zealand celebrated after waking up to news of a whitewash in the Louis Vuitton Cup, with revenge against America's Cup holder Alinghi swiftly becoming the next priority.

Team New Zealand's 5-0 victory in Valencia, which happened just after 0300 local time, dominated early morning news broadcasts and Internet sites.

The Team New Zealand slogan of "let's bring it home" -- referring to New Zealand's previous stint as holder of the America's Cup -- was mirrored in local media reports.

"One cup down, one to go," said the Dominion Post newspaper, while the New Zealand Herald said "Team NZ gets chance for revenge".

By winning the Louis Vuitton Cup, Team New Zealand has earned the right to challenge the Swiss syndicate Alinghi for the America's Cup in a best-of-nine series starting on June 23.

The mayor of New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, Dick Hubbard, said it was ready to show its support for the America's Cup, with screens likely to be set up for public viewing of the final series.

"We hope Aucklanders show their support as it comes down to crunch time," Hubbard said in a statement.

Auckland was the home of the cup when New Zealand held it between 1995 and 2003, and Hubbard said the city was ready to host it again.

"All that stands in the way now is a rematch with Alinghi, and we're confident the boys can secure a victory," Hubbard said.

New Zealand's 5-0 defeat at the hands of Alinghi and its Kiwi-dominated crew in 2003 caused widespread despair and fuelled determination to win the cup back.

Bertelli still hopes as Luna Rossa wanes Sailing

2007-06-07T01:38:00.000-07:00

by Christopher Clarey - International Herald Tribune

"Never again," Patrizio Bertelli said after the last America's Cup, when all his interest and investment left him farther from the prize than the first time.

But here the silver-haired boss of Prada is again, and though this has been a more pleasant campaign than the last and a much shorter commute from Italy, it now appears quite certain that he will not get the resolution he keeps looking and paying for.

After four races in this Vuitton Cup final, Bertelli's Luna Rossa Challenge has yet to win so much as a single mark against Emirates Team New Zealand.

The New Zealanders, who won by 52 seconds on Tuesday, require just one more victory in the best-of-nine series to secure a grudge match in the America's Cup with Alinghi, the Swiss-based team that raided their sailing talent last time and ended up taking the Cup away.

For Bertelli, it will be back to the drawing board, which is an object that has generated a lot of wealth and clout for him and his wife, Miuccia Prada, over the years as they have built a small leather business into a global taste maker. But America's Cup sailing just may be a tougher game, less subjective game, one where profit margin and style are much less important than winning margin and speed.

"We have a team that proved to be strong through other series, and they certainly didn't forget how to sail overnight," Bertelli said before the race Tuesday.

But they do seem to have forgotten how to get lucky. For the first time in the series, they managed to be in the lead when the boats converged for the first time after the start, correctly predicting a right-hand wind shift in the early stages. But instead of making the moves that would have allowed them to manage that lead, they ended up guessing wrong, avoiding direct conflict with the kiwis and going much too slowly on the long port tack in the second half of the opening leg as the Kiwis grabbed the advantage for good.

"They had a very little separation with not a big shift, and they managed to get bigger pressure than us," said Luna Rossa's Brazilian tactician, Torben Grael. "It's quite disappointing, but obviously they are sailing pretty well and getting all the opportunities. Not much we can say. Just congratulate Team New Zealand for sailing pretty well."

Bertelli is not ready to concede, but his view in the chase boat has not been pleasant in this round after all the joy his team brought him in its semifinal upset of BMW Oracle Racing.

Once viewed as an interloper, Bertelli is now an established part of the Cup's scenery. This is his third straight challenge for sailing's most prestigious prize, and though it is still not his full-time occupation, it remains his obsession.

"The America's Cup is not logical," he said. "It's the utmost expression of something that's not rational and maybe that's why it's so appealing to everybody."

Bertelli's regular job continues to be running Prada. The fashion empire has surrendered territory since the last Cup in 2003, selling off the Jil Sander and Helmut Lang brands. This is the first time that Bertelli has brought in an outside investor to share the load for a Cup campaign. According to Prada's spokesman, Francesco Longanesi Cattani, this budget is about 85 million, or about $114 million, slightly more than last time, Prada owning 51 percent of the team and Telecom Italia 49 percent.

Perhaps Bertelli's approach to the Cup is more logical than he maintains. He has not been the biggest spender since his first appearance in 2000. He answers carefully when asked whether the estimated $200 million budget that BMW Oracle had at its disposal should now be viewed as a waste.

"The America's Cup is not something you win with money," he said. "It takes the right budget, but to have unlimited access to whatever idea and whatever budget is too messy to manage."

With this campaign running smoothly until this round, it remains unclear whether Bertelli, now 61, is mellowing.

"The way he dismissed Doug Peterson during the last Cup was very tough," said Bruno Trouble, the longtime impresario of the Vuitton Cup.

Peterson was Prada's lead designer (yachts that is) for the last campaign and was very unceremoniously relieved of his duties after a loss in the opening race. The team failed to get past the semifinals of the challenger series: quite a comedown from the first appearance in Auckland in 2000 when they reached the America's Cup match.

"We spent our money badly last time," Bertelli said.

"This campaign feels more like the first campaign," he said. "We're going to see what happens of course, but we have no regrets. We didn't not test anything we wanted to test."

The yacht they designed is unusually boxy with a comparatively flat bottom and comparatively vertical sides. There are now doubters about its inherent speed and big doubts about its tacking capacity in light winds. "We're not slow, but we're not a rocket," Grael said Tuesday. "And I think it's certainly tacking that the boat doesn't like too much in the light stuff. We hope we have a bit bigger conditions tomorrow."

But Bertelli, who was deeply involved in the design process, is convinced his team is blazing the right trail. "People say this class of boats is at its limits, but I don't really think it's true," he said. "I'm convinced that at the next America's Cup we will have boxier boats than we do now."

"We didn't lose because of boat speed; I don't think so," Bertelli said. "Crossing ahead on the first cross is really what matters in this racing."

Win or more probably lose, Bertelli, one of the Cup's strong personalities, has strong ideas about the Cup's future. He is against staging it in two years time, preferring the longer, traditional cycle. "Two years would take a lot away from this sense of adventure and of the feeling of an exceptional event," he said.

Even though Bertelli has used his own campaigns as a branding tool for Prada, he believes the Cup needs to re-emphasize competition over commercialism. To that end, he believes the preliminary regattas called "the Acts" that were introduced this time to help spark interest and sponsorship should continue but should serve as a qualifying process for the Vuitton Cup.

"Sift out eight or 10 challengers," he said. "That would draw a lot of interest, because it would mean the Acts aren't just a promotional thing. They would be a true sporting event."

Above all, he wants the challengers to regain more control over their own regatta, which is being run this time by America's Cup Management, an allegedly independent entity created by the defender Alinghi. "It's O.K. to have an umbrella organization; it makes a lot of sense, but it shouldn't be managed by the defender," he said.

Becoming the defender would certainly make it easier to implement his ideas, but Bertelli seems stuck in challenger mode. "We're building things brick by brick," Bertelli said. "Remember, it took four campaigns for Team New Zealand to finally win the America's Cup."

2007 West Marine Summer Sailstice Regatta

2007-06-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

From the Summer Sailstice Planning Committee

Greetings Racers,

Registration materials are now available for the 2007 West Marine Summer Sailstice Regatta at the Treasure Island Sailing Center. We expect over 250 boats this year in our One Design, PHRF and Cruise-In activities! Visit www.tisailing.org for more information and registration information.

Be sure to join us for the regatta party on Saturday June 23^rd from 4pm to 9pm for the Summer Sailstice Celebration. Welcome summertime with free sailboat rides, a children's treasure hunt, an on- the-bay scavenger hunt, cruise in, racing, a silent auction, live music, dinner, dancing and fun for all ages. Bring your family and friends!

Smooth Sailing,

America's Cup: Finalists generate some verbal squalls

2007-06-12T23:37:00.000-07:00

International Herald Tribune - by Christopher Clarey from Valencia, Spain.

An edgy America's Cup grew edgier when Alinghi's president, Ernesto Bertarelli, expressed disappointment with the opposition's plans for yachting's biggest event and suggested that they were ungrateful for the financial support he had provided when they were struggling to create a syndicate.

Alinghi will defend the Cup against Emirates Team New Zealand in the best-of-nine series that begins here June 23. Many New Zealanders view it as a grudge match, but Bertarelli, the smooth Swiss billionaire, sees it through a different lens.

He sees it as the climax of the competition he and his deputies have reshaped into a more profitable and modern event with a more global approach, and he is upset that Team New Zealand's leader, Grant Dalton, has publicly stated his intention to reinstate some form of the nationality rule if the Kiwis win back the Cup. >more

Archbishop Tutu in Valencia

2007-06-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

Sailing World

In "one stroke" Team Shosholoza, South Africa' - first ever challenger for the 2007 America' Cup - had been able to present a visual image to the world of what South Africa hoped to become, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, told a huge international media contingent at a press conference hosted at the South African base in Valencia, Spain, yesterday.

"In the past people were alienated and separated from each other. They couldn't work together, live or play together and Shosholoza, in one stroke, has been able to present a new face to the world. It is a different image and a dream of what we want to become. Suddenly with Team Shosholoza the nation has discovered sailing. We didn't know anything about sailing before Shosholoza. These guys did so very, very well. I want to congratulate all of them!" said Archbishop Tutu who agreed to be Patron of the team in May last year.

Archbishop Tutu, whose visit was hailed as a historic occasion for the 2007 America's Cup, was visiting the South African base for the first time. He flawed the crowd when he jauntily donned a Shosholoza "18th man" sailing jacket and confidently tried out the wheel of yacht Shosholoza RSA 83 - albeit dock-side. Accompanied by his wife Leah, team managing director Captain Salvatore Sarno and members of the crew he even ventured to the tip of the narrow bow end of the boat, constantly asking questions.

"What Shosholoza has done is a superb thing for our country. It is a sport where we never thought we would even have a chance, but you have shocked the sailing world. You have demonstrated that the black community is able to integrate itself into this world and to be competitive in this sport," he told the crew.

The Superyacht Cup - The finest superyachts in the world

2007-06-13T01:16:00.000-07:00

The City of Palma is hosting from June 16th - 19th the Superyacht Cup 2007 incorporating the NZ Millennium Cup, the largest gathering of the finest sailing yachts ever.

The first Superyacht Cup was held in Palma in 1996 and over 130 boats have taken part over the past 11 years. The Millennium Cup was first held in New Zealand during the America's Cup in 2000 and again in 2003 and this is the first time the event has been held in Europe. The 60 or so boats taking part are a complete cross section of superyachts from the oldest in the fleet, the classic yacht Lulworth, to the latest Wally Y3K and Royal Huisman's modern classic 'Meteor I', both of which have been launched in the last couple of months.

The Superyacht Cup fleet lined up bow to stern would measure an incredible 2km's, and the sight of these beautiful yachts sailing in the Bay of Palma will be a spectacular sight never seen before. >more

Perini Navi - Part 1

2007-06-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

by Marilyn M. Mower

Growing up in the 1960s in Tuscany’s Lucca valley, a center of Italy’s paper industry since the 17th century, Fabio Perini did as previous generations of his family had done and entered the paper-making business. Although demand for the products was skyrocketing at the time, Italy’s paper companies remained largely artisanal operations—small specialty companies operating slow, cumbersome machines. The young Perini, gifted with mechanical genius and possessing an aversion to the status quo, began sketching machines that would ultimately revolutionize the paper industry.

At age 17, he invented a machine for his family’s business that efficiently converted huge spindles of creped tissue into individual retail-size rolls. More significantly, he designed variable tension gearing for the machine so that it could process tissue one day and industrial toweling the next. The invention became the cornerstone of Fabio Perini SpA, which he founded in 1966 and which is now one of the world’s leading producers of tissue-converting machinery.

As Perini’s success grew, he began to indulge his passion for sailing by acquiring a series of successively larger boats. In those days, sailing required muscles and leather gloves to control flailing lines and sails that flapped over an obstacle course of deck hardware. The bigger the boat, the more able-bodied friends or professional crew members were required to control the beast. Perini wanted to sail large boats, but he also wanted to enjoy the serenity of the sport, which was difficult to do with such a crowd on board.

In the 1980s, he began searching for a boat large enough to cross oceans, but shallow enough to enter Viareggio’s harbor and designed for a single individual or a family to sail. When he found that such a boat did not exist, he decided to invent it. Perini’s primary goal was to replace with electric motors the muscle that harnessed the sails. From his paper business, he was familiar with how to roll material around drums, and he recognized that a winch is essentially a vertical drum. If a winch, he determined, could be made to hold all the rope of a halyard or a sheet instead of just a few wraps, it would simplify the process of harnessing the sails and eliminate all those flailing lines. And if such a winch could take up the line, it also should be able to let it out.

Superyacht Cup Transatlantic Challenge

2007-06-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

by David Glenn - Yachting World

The first Superyacht Cup Transatlantic Challenge is planned for April 2008. The course will take the yachts on the traditional track across the Atlantic via the Azores and will finish in the Spanish Port of Vigo on the north west coast of Spain. There will be two classes, a performance sailing class and a 'rally class' which will enable yachts to keep up an average minimum speed by motoring if necessary. The two classes will start separately in Antigua with the aim of all yachts finishing in a 24 - 48 hour period in the Azores.

Horta Marina will host the fleet during a short stop-over period in the beautiful and unspoiled islands of the Azores, where shore-based activities and events will be planned for the intermediate days. The yachts will then start in pursuit race format on the final 900 mile leg to Vigo. Whilst many yacht owners cannot take the time necessary for the whole race, the final leg to the finish should take only 3 to 4 days giving them the opportunity to take part in this Transatlantic experience.

After the finish the fleet will be moored in Marina Davila in the centre of Vigo, where once again shore-side entertainment will be laid on for everyone to enjoy the scenic area surrounding Vigo and Baiona. The Superyacht Cup Transatlantic Challenge Prize Giving Dinner will be a grand black tie evening for all participants and sponsors before the yachts head off to the Mediterranean, northern Europe and beyond for their summer sailing programs.

Perini Navi - Part 2

2007-06-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

by Marilyn M. Mower

In 1983, Perini took the helm of his new 131-foot sloop Felicità, and when he pushed the levers, his electric captive winches rolled out all five sails and sheeted them home. While Perini is an entrepreneur and an inventor, he is not a naval architect or boatbuilder. To construct Felicità—and the boats that would follow once news of Felicità’s revolutionary design spread—he therefore assembled a team and named it Perini Navi. He recruited as its chief Giancarlo Ragnetti from Sangermani, which had built Perini’s previous boat. In Ragnetti, Perini found a kindred visionary spirit who prizes innovation, quality, and aesthetics.

Ragnetti understood that uniqueness and exclusivity needed to be part of Perini Navi’s business plan. “We had as our objective making not only a quality product but also one that identified us,” says Ragnetti. “So at least our first dozen boats were all designed and built as we had conceived them and offered for sale only when they were finished. We couldn’t back down on certain characteristics and interior details.”

Rather than lose control of the product, Perini Navi designed and built all the components itself and soon purchased a shipyard. While his boats continue to be made by hand, Perini has applied his business acumen to the process. For example, the steel hulls are welded in Turkey, where it can be done more efficiently and economically than in Italy, and then barged to Viareggio, where the shipfitting and joinery processes are performed.

More than any other builder, Perini Navi has been responsible for a rebirth of the large sailing yacht industry, a fact that was noted when the International Superyacht Society presented Fabio Perini with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. In 1998, only 10 sailing yachts 120 feet or longer were under construction worldwide. In 2006, there are 24, and Perini Navi is building eight of them.

Perini Navi - Part 3: Captivating Inventions

2007-06-19T01:01:00.000-07:00

Marilyn M. Mower

Perini Navi managing director Giancarlo Ragnetti remembers when Felicità first sailed into Sardinia’s Porto Cervo, the summer headquarters of sailing’s cognoscenti. “People came aboard and they liked the flying bridge and the big decks but they said, ‘Where are your winches?’ ” recalls Ragnetti. “We showed them, but they were not confident in the results. Today all of our competitors have captive winches. They allow you to sail a 50-meter boat with four sailing professionals instead of 10 or more, plus four or five crew for the interior. That translates into more room for the owner and guests and less expense.”

While several large boatbuilders and winch makers today favor hydraulic-powered winches because the motors are smaller, lighter, and faster, Perini chooses to stay with electric power. As Ragnetti says, the trade-off in weight is not consequential for yachts in the 50-meter range. “If an electric winch goes haywire, it’s no problem. You bypass all the electronics and you have a normal electric machine,” he says. “If a hydraulic winch quits, so does the sailing.”

Through the years, Perini Navi boats have debuted a number of technical and design innovations. The following is a selection of those:

• In addition to automated sail handling, the twin-engine Felicità, launched in 1983, debuted a ballasted swing keel that retracts into a shallow fixed keel and is raised by an electric winch.

• In 1985, Perini Navi delivered the 141-foot Andromeda and, at owner Tom Perkins’ request, painted it navy blue, which has since become the boatbuilder’s trademark.

• Xasteria, a 151-footer launched in 1990, featured an interior helm station that was positioned forward on the superstructure so that the crew could access the wheelhouse and flying bridge without intruding on the owner’s area.

• The 154-foot Andromeda la Dea, Tom Perkins’ second Perini Navi boat, was launched in 1990 and became the first Perini to circumnavigate the world.

• Corelia, a 158-footer launched in 1993, was the first Perini to feature a tender garage, which cleared the deck of dinghies and water toys.

• When it debuted in 1997, the 171-foot Liberty was the first sailing yacht with the cockpit positioned forward of the superstructure.

• Perini’s first contract to an outside naval architect went to Ron Holland for the 210-foot Felicità west, which was launched in 2003. She was Perini’s first all-aluminum construction and is currently the world’s largest all-aluminum sailing yacht. More than 37 miles of cabling control 19,000 square feet of sails.

Women in the America's Cup

2007-06-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

Americascup.com

Since 1886, women have been an integral part of America’s Cup history. It was in that year Mrs. William Henn became the first woman to sail for a Cup on the challenger Galatea. She joined her husband during two races against the Mayflower drawing, and appropriately so, considerable media attention. The fiery daughters Lord Dunraven, Ladies Aileen and Rachel Wyndham-Quin, followed her some years later. And although it’s difficult to understand exactly what their roles were, registers indicated they were afterguard members of the unsuccessful challengers Valkyrie II and Valkyrie III, during the 1893 and 1895 challenges.

Hope Goddard Iselin, wife of C. Oliver Iselin, the head of the America’s Cup defence from 1895 to 1903, was indisputably the first woman to play a significant role on a defending team as the official timekeeper. To this day she shares the record of longest America’s Cup participation with Dawn Riley, who is here for the 2007 Cup in Valencia. >more

America's Cup boats evenly matched

2007-06-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

By Alexander Smith from Valencia, Spain.

After years of work perfecting their boat for the America's Cup, Team New Zealand's designer is convinced there is little to choose between NZL92 and holder Alinghi's newer and largely untested SUI100.

But with only two races sailed and each team winning one apiece, it is still too early to say which is the faster craft, Marcelino Botin told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

"Knowing whether you are faster is very difficult... At this stage for us it's still not absolutely clear what the trade off between the boats is," he said at the Kiwi's base in Valencia.

"It's pretty even...they're better at some things and we're better at others. At this stage that's all we know. There's definitely not a big difference between the boats."

Before the best-of-nine series began on Saturday, there was widespread speculation around Port America's Cup that SUI100 was a "rocketship" with a more bulbous bow shape than previous boats that would leave the challenger trailing in its wake. >more

Russell Coutts to rescue Oracle?

2007-06-26T00:09:00.000-07:00

NZ Herald

The New Zealander is understood to be in talks to join the massive US Oracle team for the next Cup campaign.

After turning his back on New Zealand in 2000 to join Team Alinghi, the legendary skipper is tipped to become CEO and skipper for America's Cup syndicate BMW Oracle.

The Herald on Sunday understands that terms have already been discussed with Oracle's owner Larry Ellison, although a contract has yet to be signed. If terms are finalised, an announcement may be made at the end of this America's Cup.

Unattached to a team since his split with Alinghi in 2004, and following the resignation of Oracle skipper Chris Dickson last month, Coutts appears to be an obvious choice for the waning syndicate.

Since the disappointing 5-1 semifinal loss to Luna Rossa, Oracle has been chucking a number of management positions overboard - the latest being business manager Russell Green, who many thought would be up for promotion.

With Dickson and Green out of the picture - a move not uncommon for a team that has fallen out of contention - room may be left for Coutts to go ahead and build his own team.

It is believed by many that Coutts has his five Alinghi wingmen - Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney, Warwick Fleury, Murray Jones and Dean Phipps - who will follow him wherever he goes.

When asked about his future recently, Alinghi tactician Brad Butterworth said he would not rule out working with Coutts again.

"I would like to work again with Russell," he said. "I do not know what he will be doing next."

But whichever way Coutts does decide to go, Butterworth is convinced he'll lead that team to victory.

"Russell is a very intelligent man, with firm beliefs in his own ability. He has a great mind for what's going to happen next", he said. "Coutts is the best guy in the game. Any team he's on would be a prime candidate to win it. He's got all the skills you need."

One mistake could decide cup

2007-06-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

By Robert Lowe

Skipper Dean Barker believes Team New Zealand's clash on the water with holders Alinghi is so tight that one mistake could decide the destination of yachting's America's Cup.

The sides are locked at 2-2 going into tonight's (NZ time) rest day, after which the best-of-nine match will resume with a potentially decisive three-race stretch before the next scheduled break.

The score is provisional pending the result of a Team NZ protest to be heard tonight over the way Alinghi's mainsail is attached to the top of the mast.

That protest aside, Barker agreed that the destination of yachting's biggest prize could be decided by as simple a matter as one side making fewer errors.

"It feels like that," he said.

"It's going to be one mistake in a race could cost you the America's Cup. It's got the feeling of going right down to the wire." >more

America's Cup ends in profit

2007-07-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

By Jane Barrett - Guardian Unlimited

The 32nd America's Cup will end with a profit of more than 30 million euros ($41 million) that will be shared out between the 12 participating teams, organising body ACM said on Thursday.

When Swiss syndicate Alinghi won the America's Cup in 2003, they set up ACM to raise funds -- including from media rights and sponsorship -- and organise the racing.

ACM raised a budget of about 250 million euros, 10 times the amount spent on the 2003 America's Cup in Auckland, although some purists and sponsors have criticised them for focusing more on money than on the Cup's 156-year-old tradition.

Under the protocol, ACM will split any leftover cash between the teams -- 50 percent to Alinghi and the other 50 percent divided between the challengers with those who got the furthest in the Louis Vuitton Cup getting the most.

"We've got around 30 million euros and may have a bit more than that to give back to the teams. First, we need to close the accounts on this edition and that will take some time," said ACM chief executive Michel Bonnefous.

"This is a significant step forward in allowing Cup teams from this cycle to be on a solid financial footing for the 33rd America's Cup," ACM said.

Alinghi president Ernesto Bertarelli has said he wants the America's Cup to fund itself rather than rely on rich backers bankrolling boats.

ACM said the 32nd America's Cup, including pre-Cup regattas that were raced around Europe since 2004, had been the biggest Cup ever with more than six million people visiting the events and four billion people watching the racing on television.

Protocol for the next 33rd America's Cup

2007-07-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

Click here for the protocol for the 33rd America's Cup

33rd America's Cup

2007-07-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

by Matthew Sheahan - Yachting World

You win the Cup, you make the rules. It's simple.

Initially, today's (Thursday 5 July) announcement of the Protocol governing the 33rd America's Cup was about the new class of boat that will be used for the next America's Cup. Bigger, faster, more athletic and more difficult to sail, according to Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth.

The new boat will be 90ft LOA, have a lifting keel to reduce the draft from 6.5m to 4.1m, (the same draft as at present), to allow the boats to access ports. The boats will have 20-21 crew and it seems most likely that only one boat per team be allowed for this cycle of the Cup. The wind range that the boats will be designed to compete in will be 8-30 knots, a tall order for such powerful machines.

But, as the new Protocol was trawled through in more detail, other crucial changes and issues started to appear.

From the response of those sifting through the detail, it would appear that you can read the new document in two ways. One suggests that Alinghi has skewed the pitch even more.

'ACM [America's Cup Management] may, at its sole and entire discretion, accept or reject any entry received,' reads note 4.4 when setting out the Acceptance of Challenging Competitors. Powerful stuff which can't help but lead some to question how far and why ACM might consider excluding a Challenger.

Reserving the right for the Defender to sail in the Challengers' selection trials right up until the semi final, is another major area of change.

Note 13.5 Trials and Challenger Selection format reads: 'It may provide for the Defender an option to participate wholly or partly at its discretion in the Trials and Challenger selection other than the final between the two Challengers to select a Challenger for the Match.'

To have Alinghi sailing in the Challenger series raises all sorts of issues and marks another big step in what is proving to be an historic change in the America's Cup in a dramatic season for the event.

During the press conference earlier today, Butterworth pointed to reducing costs as being one of the biggest influences in restricting teams to just one boat. While this might be the case, having no trial horse to tune up against could be a serious disadvantage for the Defenders, who under the old Protocol would only be able to line up against another of the new boats when they came to race the Challenger. Creating an opportunity for them to sail against the strongest competition in the Challenger series would help them to check in with current thinking and performance.

Elsewhere in the new document, the provision to have a minimum of 18 months between the issuing of a new class rule and the first event in new boats would appear to leave little time to run an event in 2007 if the rule wasn't finalised until the end of this year. Until then, regattas will be run in the existing version 5 boats.

Here lies a particular sting in the tail for the United Internet Team Germany who recently announced having made the first lamination in their new boat, GER101. Note 14.3 (a) states, 'a prohibition on the building of a new yacht that complies with or is intended to comply with ACC Rule Version 5.0 for use in qualifying regattas.'

The other way to look at the details of the document is that ACM are simply reserving the right to do whatever they want, precisely what winning the Cup means.

America's Cup - High drama to the end

2007-07-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

by Victor Mallet - Financial Times

Let no one complain again that it's only about money. True, the landlocked Swiss would not this week have triumphantly retained the America's Cup, the most illustrious prize in yacht racing and the oldest active trophy in world sport, without the deep pockets of Ernesto Bertarelli, the Swiss pharmaceuticals billionaire.

But if the Alinghi team had relied only on the expensive design, technology and training funded by Bertarelli, they might still have lost in Valencia to Emirates Team New Zealand, thereby forfeiting the Auld Mug and allowing the competition to return down under for the 33rd America's Cup a couple of years from now.

If it had just been about money, furthermore, Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle might have taken the Kiwis' place as the boat to race Alinghi, instead of losing to the Italian boat Luna Rossa in the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the preliminary contest that decides which team will challenge the defending champion.

Even four years ago, when Alinghi crushed the New Zealanders 5-0 - thus taking the America's Cup to Europe for the first time since Queen Victoria watched the schooner America trounce its British rivals in a race round the Isle of Wight in 1851 - it might just have been possible to argue that money was the deciding factor.

This time, however, there was no doubt: the Swiss victory was about sailing skills, weather sense, tactics, nerve, determination and the fickleness of the wind - in short, yacht racing, which vies with business as one of Bertarelli's passions. >more

33rd America's Cup

2007-07-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

As stated on the America's Cup website:

Just 22 days after the magnificent outcome of the 32nd America’s Cup, with Alinghi’s victory in Valencia, the Swiss Defender led by Ernesto Bertarelli, together with the Société Nautique de Genève and ACM, have made public most of the details for the 33rd edition of the oldest trophy in the world of sport.

Following a new agreement with the Spanish state, the Valencia Regional Government and the Valencia Municipality, the Host City for the 33rd America’s Cup will be Valencia. The event will take place in 2009, between May and July, with two pre-regattas to be held in 2008. One of them will be in Valencia in July and the other one in another European country in the autumn. They will be raced on the existing America´s Cup Class (Version 5) boats.

Challenges for the 33rd America’s Cup have been accepted from four yacht clubs to date, the first one being the Spanish Challenger of Record, Club Náutico Español de Vela, represented by Desafío Español. This was followed last week by another veteran from the 32nd campaign, the South African Team Shosholoza, representing the Royal Cape Yacht Club, and early this week by the British newcomer TEAMORIGIN, flying the flag of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Today, the latest challenger to be accepted is the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Team New Zealand.
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.... Rita Barberá, Mayoress of Valencia, said: “As the President of the Consortium that has worked with ACM to make the 32nd America’s Cup the best ever, I would like to invite Larry Ellison and his team to withdraw his legal action and come back to Valencia and join us. We would welcome him with open arms to join all the other challengers in the 33rd America’s Cup.”