No Admiral's Cup, no comment

Peter Bentley reflects on a press conference that had nothing to announce, except that nothing was happening

At a press conference that was notable only for what was not said, Barlo Plastics, United Airlines and the RYA jointly expressed their sadness at the demise of the Admiral's Cup without offering very much light on what their plans are next.
For the crews as well as the sponsors the cancellation of the event has come as a cruel blow. With a well-funded and well-practised team based to a great extent on the British America's Cup challenge, the home team had a better chance of bringing the trophy back to these shores than in any recent event. Ian Walker, who was to have jointly skippered the United Airlines-sponsored Sydney 40 may have come closer to the truth than many would care to admit when he joked that the reason why some of the other teams were not coming was "because they were frightened" of the strength of the British effort.

Walker, who had previously been concerned by the dilution of effort that a strong performance at the Admiral's Cup would require, was nonetheless personally disappointed at not being able to take part in the Admiral's Cup. "I have been on the top scoring boat once and I was genuinely looking forward to taking part and hopefully winning," he said. United Airlines marketing manager, Mike Tunnicliffe was unable to provide details of any further plans for the Sydney 40.

The Barlo Plastics IC45 will now compete in the RORC's Red Funnel Easter Challenge from 13th - 15th April. Adrian Stead, skipper of the IC45, commented: "This is a sad result for the Admiral's Cup 2001 and indeed the British team, as we've had the full backing and support of both Barlo Plastics and Robert Condon and we were looking forward to a successful event." After the Red Funnel Easter regatta, there are no firm plans for the IC45 but it seems likely that she will compete in the RORC one-design regatta scheduled for the 19th to 21st July.

Like most of those present, RYA keelboat manager, Bill Edgerton, was keen to point out that the British were to have fielded a strong team and that the demise of the event in no way reflected on the strength of big boat sailing in the UK. He was keen to emphasise that the RYA would continue to support competitive sailing in the UK and would work together with the RORC to try and build a strong event for 2003.