America's Cup - Ed Gorman's view

The new British America's Cup challenge has got a lot of the right bits in the right places, writes Ed Gorman.

After many turns in the road, Britain is finally back in the America's Cup and we have the multimillionaire businessman, Peter Harrison, to thank for it. The launch at the British Academy of Film and Television and Arts (BAFTA) in London's Piccadilly was as slick and professional as one hopes the GBR Challenge will be on the water.

It is clear from the outset that many of the right bits are already in the right places to make this a realistic and successful campaign. First among them is the clear shift from the old guard - the Eddie Warden-Owens, Chris Laws and Lawrie Smiths - to the new, younger generation of British sailing talent led by Ian Walker.
Clearly there is an experience shortfall with some of these sailors, but through their own success in Olympic sailing, match racing and keelboat sailing, they have between them much of the combined talent that will be required to put an effective campaign for Auckland 2002/2003 together.

Any project led by Walker will be governed by the transparent qualities of professionalism, commitment and striving for excellence which have characterised all his sailing projects, in both the Olympic area and in events like the Admiral's Cup. Whatever the final result - whether GBR Challenge makes it to the semis of the Louis Vuitton challenger series or not - it will not be for the want of trying.

Another big problem for any new British campaign returning to the oldest competition in international sport, was finding someone with the experience and authority to run the syndicate on the shore and tackle the vast array of management challenges which America's Cup sailing presents. In the five-time Cup veteran and former three-time 470 world champion, David Barnes, Harrison looks to have made a strong choice.

Barnes, aged 42, has been involved in past campaigns as everything from skipper to director of operations with Team New Zealand and he saw what happened, close-up, during the last Cup when he worked as coach and testing helmsman with Dawn Riley's America True campaign. Barnes has a good working relationship with Walker, whom he has raced in past Admiral's Cups, and his familiarity with Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf can only be a plus.