Cup update

Following the Moet Cup Peter Rusch looks at what has been learned about the future of the America's Cup

The Moët Cup finished on Saturday in San Francisco with Larry Ellison’s Oracle BMW Racing team sweeping the hardware - putting to rest the conspiracy theories floating around that had the event as sailing’s answer to professional wrestling. But the Oracle team needed the final race in both the Pro-Driver and Owner-Driver divisions to claim victory.

Far more important than the results on the water however, is the fact that any Cup-style racing was happening in the first place - a full four years out from the next big dance in Europe.

It is safe to say that the event was well received - estimates ranged from 300 to 500 spectator boats on the water, and perhaps 7,000 gathered along the shoreline - and generally well organised, not withstanding some eyebrow raising Race Committee work (starting a race without Umpires on the water, abandoning a race the following morning). Given such a positive result for the Moët Cup, what does that mean for the future?

Although the typical America’s Cup veil of secrecy has descended over everyone officially connected, it is clear that the Moët Cup is seen as a template of sorts for a series of events to be held between now and 2007.

There has been plenty of talk about making the racing more accessible to spectators, and that was certainly achieved this past week in San Francisco.

"You get consistent breeze, you get a fantastic course area where you can bring the racing in to the shore to allow people to see the racing up close which has been great," said Russell Coutts, Executive Director of Alinghi, talking about the racing in San Francisco, but perhaps giving a hint of what they are looking for from the bid cities.

At this time, nothing is set in stone. But secret meetings are taking place, plans are being laid, and some consensus is emerging as to the programme over the next four years, leading up the 2007 America’s Cup.

The next 'Moët Cup' type event is almost certain to be in Newport next spring. Ernesto Bertarelli and Alinghi are to be the hosts, and the Oracle BMW team is sure to be there. There is hope that Team New Zealand, the fledgling K-Yachting team, and perhaps another European team will join the party as well.

Will it be called the Moët Cup?

That probably depends on the title sponsor of the 2007 America’s Cup. For over 20-years, Louis Vuitton has been a big supporter of America’s Cup racing, pouring money into sponsorship of the Challenger series (the Louis Vuitton Cup) as well as being the organising body behind the media centre, and the host of some extraordinary parties. The America’s Cup itself was a completely separate event to the LV Cup, with a completely different organisation behind it (hence the different Race Committees, two websites, different TV deals, etc.)

But Ernesto Bertarelli, quite rightly, is trying to put a stop to all of the needless duplication that this arrangement ensures. A new company has been created, called America’s Cup Management (ACM). It is charged with running all aspects of the 2007 event, from selecting the next venue, marketing and sponsorship, to television and media, and running things on the water as well.

In addition to taking bids from potential host cities, it’s no secret that ACM is also considering different models for title sponsorship. Along with the announcement of the next venue, this question should be answered by the middle of December, and it would be a surprise if the title sponsor wasn’t involved in the Newport event as well.

Valencia, Naples, Marseille, and Lisbon are the remaining bid cities to host the 2007 America’s Cup. Bertarelli says the focus for the next weeks is to get guarantees from each of the candidates, to ensure that what they’ve promised will actually be delivered if they are finally selected. It’s a mugs game to guess the eventual location of the XXXII America’s Cup, and certainly Bertarelli wasn’t giving any hints, but many people are guessing that Valencia and Marseille have the inside track. The most important factor in comparing the bids appears to be consistent weather conditions.

"I think the worst thing that happened to the America’s Cup recently is the fact that we didn’t sail for 10 days (in the middle of the Match). I remember after the third race, after 10 days of waiting for the fourth race, people lost interest. So the most important thing for us is the conditions at the next venue," Bertarelli said. "The second thing is, how close will the race course be to the city? It’s funny, there were more people on the water on the first day (in San Francisco), than there were on the fourth day of the America’s Cup. Making sure that we can sail every day and that the city is populated with sailing enthusiasts, are in my opinion the two most important things."

Once the location is nailed down, it is likely that as early as next autumn there will be an event in that city. The plans for the years leading up to the Cup, (2005, 2006) are likely to include at least three regattas each year, leading up to the main event in 2007.

Bertarelli, Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison are keen to emphasise what Ernesto called a ‘paradigm shift’ regarding the America’s Cup. What we’ve come to think of as the America’s Cup (a Challenger series, followed by the Cup Match) is likely to be a much shorter event the next time around, including a fleet race, a Challenger elimination series and the Cup Match all concentrated in a 10-12 week period. But they argue that we should be looking at all of the events leading up to the big show as equally important.

"This style of event (the Moet Cup) allows new teams to come in and compete much earlier. They can get all the commercial exposure, all the race practice, that previously they weren’t able to do until they arrived at the Cup match itself," Coutts told the media last week. "Previously it was a long time between drinks, so to speak. But now there are races that will become more and more competitive as we go along. Next year we’re talking about three official events (in addition to Newport), and that’s going to provide teams with a great opportunity to give sponsors more. I think it’s all good news and I certainly expect to see a lot of competitive teams on the starting line at the start of the Challenger Elimination Series in 2007."

Insiders at ACM and Oracle, the Challenger of Record, say they’re hoping for double-digit entries, and expecting perhaps a dozen challengers. Teams that are active on some level at this point (in addition to Alinghi and Oracle BMW) are Team New Zealand, K-Yachting, GBR Challenge, Mascalzone Latino and Bertelli’s Prada. Dennis Conner is looking for money, and there’s speculation this week about a Paul Cayard led European team. Australia, Sweden, France and Spain are possibilities for additional entries, as is Germany.

But any new challenger must be looking at the powerhouse Oracle and Alinghi teams as formidable competition. It’s ironic that Alinghi and Oracle BMW as sailing teams could be too good for ACM and the Challenger of Record. Anyone thinking about entering the Cup in 2007 with the idea of winning will have a big task in just getting past Oracle, let alone beating Coutts, Butterworth, Bertarelli, et al.

It appears that the first step of that long climb will begin in Newport early next summer. But expect to see the America’s Cup in the news through Christmas, with venue selection, a finalised Protocol and class rule and perhaps a title sponsor as announcements that are all in the offing over the coming months.