Admiral's Cup gets rolling

Between eight and ten teams are expected, while the Fastnet looks set for a glamorous line-up in 2001

The Admiral’s Cup should see at least eight teams competing on the Solent this July, according to the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC).
The British team will be one of the strongest for years, but is likely to face stiff opposition from the US, not least from Philippe Kahn’s Farr 40 Pegasus, with triple Olympic medallist Mark Reynolds calling tactics. The IC45 slot will be taken by Heatwave, whilst the Sydney 40 is still being decided.

Italy can be expected to put together a traditionally strong team, but their selections have yet to be completed, whilst Germany is also close to finalising details on its challenge. Entries from Spain and Scandinavia are not yet so advanced, but RORC is confident they will be on the start line by the summer. There are also rumours of a Greek team being put together by George Andreadis, whose Farr 40 won Key West Race Week last month for the second year running.

As we reported at the end of January, the Australian's are still looking for a Farr 40, but there are likely to be plenty of chartering opportunities. While there is also talk of European and Commonwealth teams being put together, in much the same way as seen at the Rolex Commodore's Cup last summer. Leading figures from the British big boat scene such as Peter Harrison and Farr International’s Peter Morton could play a role in seeing these teams assembled for the AC.

David Minords of the RORC told madforsailing that he felt the decision to include three one-designs in the 2001 format had helped reinvigorate interest in the unofficial team world championship of offshore racing, but said he would like to see future series include a development element once more. "We would like a development class back in there for future events, but we need a good rating rule to get established first." He said RORC would favour IRM over IMS as he believed it was a better rule for the purpose.

As with the 1999 event, the Admiral's Cup takes place before Cowes Week, which means it will not include the Fastnet Race as the finale of the series. Some have criticised the RORC for omitting the Fastnet from the Admiral's Cup, but David Minords defended the move.

"The modern grand prix racer doesn't feel the need for the Fastnet in the Admiral's Cup. I suspect the criticism is coming from the older sailors, and they are right in thinking the Fastnet was right for then. But I don't know that it is right for today's mood. With the race so heavily weighted in the series, it made the Admiral's Cup a lottery. The emphasis these days is on testing the sailor's skills, boat on boat."

The Fastnet Race, which takes place at the end of Cowes Week, looks set to be a classic this year. Many of the Volvo Ocean 60s are using it as part of their build-up to the Volvo Ocean Race, whilst some Open 60s have already expressed an interest in competing. The French 60-foot multihull fleet is also considering competing, along with a number of the big boats that will be in Cowes for the America's Cup Jubilee in mid-August, so this year should be one of the most glamorous line-ups for the 630-mile classic.