What next for the America's Cup?

James Boyd examines the latest theories

Recent goings-on on the water off Valencia have left America's Cup purists quaking in their loafers. Throughout the event's turbulent 156 year history wasn't the sacrosanct part of the America's Cup about a 'challenger' taking on the mighty 'defender'?

Since 1983 with the advent of the Louis Vuitton Cup the challengers have had the opportunity to compete among themselves, the winner of this series ultimately going up against the defender. When the event was held in the US there were often similar defender series held to determine the best boat and crew to pitch against the winning challenger, although with escalating campaign costs this has all but disappeared.

Up until this Cup cycle the defender and challenger camps were fastidiously separate. The Louis Vuitton Cup and America’s Cup had their own individual organisations, race management, TV deals, etc and the concept of challengers and defenders racing each other thereby giving away valuable information about each other was abhorrent, the equivalent of two heavyweight fighters having a scrap in the backyard before entering the ring for proper.

Over recent Cup cycles the two camps have slightly converged. In Auckland for example while the two events had separate organisations, the race management, jury, measurers, media centre, etc were common to both.

For this Cup cycle the dividing line has become further blurred. Following Alinghi’s win in Auckland Ernesto Bertarelli's Swiss team set up, with the 'mutual consent' of the Challenger of Record, the Golden Gate Yacht Club (aka Larry Ellison/BMW Oracle Racing) America’s Cup Management to handle the running of both Louis Vuitton Cup and America’s Cup competitions. This on the one hand made a lot of sense - no longer is there the ludicrous situation where two sets of TV rights have to be sold and there is now formally one race management team, one international jury, one group of measurers, umpires, etc.

With ACM running the whole show it must be meticulously neutral between challengers and defender, but where it has come unstuck is due to it being owned by Alinghi. Thus it has been all too easy for the challengers to criticise it when they wish to for being Alinghi’s puppet.

Remember what is at stake here. The America’s Cup competition has been ramped up by ACM - and they are to be applauded for this - into being what is believed to be the world's fifth largest sporting event in terms of its economic impact. The event is now worth billions and the top campaigns are costing 150-200 million Euros apiece to mount. And the winner gets the right to run the next event which, as sports business analysis Professor Tom Cannon put it to us recently, represents the biggest financial prize available anywhere in sport. Team Origin's Jerry Hill neatly compared it to being "like winning Formula 1 and becoming Bernie". So in short while the America's Cup may be a 'friendly competition' there is a huge amount at stake and thus it is perhaps uncomfortable that the selection series to determine the top challenger should be run by an organisation ultimately owned by the defender.

As to Alinghi itself, their situation has dramatically improved compared to that of previous defenders. Traditionally the lot of the defender has been a lonely one. Isolated from the challengers who get to hone their race readiness and boat speed in the Louis Vuitton Cup, they have had to rely upon in house racing to get up to speed and on their 'recon' and 'intelligence gathering' to determine if they have a boat as quick as the challengers. The situation was alleviated a little in Auckland with the 'Road to the America's Cup' regatta but at this time Team New Zealand would have felt themselves lucky if they'd managed to find one challenger willing to race them informally and certainly not any time close to the America's Cup itself.

Compare this to Alinghi's situation this time. They have had the opportunity to compete in 13 Acts. This has given them previously unimaginable insight into the make-up of the challengers. Alinghi provide the counter argument that the challengers equally learn a lot about them in the process too. What is undeniable is that the Acts have also raised the level of competitive edge of both challengers and defender alike to new heights and is therefore a most welcome development.

What we are having trouble understanding is why over recent weeks have the challengers been so willing to race Alinghi informally? If the Louis Vuitton Cup is not only about determining the top challenger but helping to ensure that they are as quick as possible and race ready following two round robins, quarter finals and then finals, it seems unusual that after all this they should then help the enemy, the defender?

Prior to the LV Cup finals Alinghi informally raced Emirates Team New Zealand and one can imagine that this was as much an opportunity for ETNZ to gauge Alinghi's performance as it was for Alinghi to gauge theirs. But over this last week Alinghi spent two days racing Luna Rossa and has also lined up against Desafio Espanol 2007, both teams out of the competition and with apparently nothing to gain from this encounter.

From this we can only draw the conclusion that this America's Cup is becoming less about challengers and defenders and more about helping the defender to keep the Cup in Europe. All too often in our interviews with challengers recently they have said 'of course they will challenge again' but have been hesitant when asked whether they would challenge again if the 33rd America's Cup were to be held in Auckland.

Grant Dalton has recently hinted that if the Kiwis were to win, the next Cup would be in Auckland in early 2011 - yes, there would be Acts in Europe and around the globe. There has also been talk of a return to the 'nationality rule' that has been largely dispensed with this time around. Previously foreign sailors joining a team would have to go through the ridiculous procedure of changing their nationality, so if this were to be reintroduced the rule would have to be tightened up. For example members of a British would either have to been born in the UK or had the UK as place of residence for a period longer than a Cup cycle.

With much of the key players in the Alinghi sailing team being of Kiwi extraction and more New Zealand sailors on the BMW Oracle race boat than there is even on ETNZ's, one can see that this having a crippling effect on some teams. But of particular concern would be the effect it would have on fledgling nations joining the Cup. While nationality restriction would be no problem for the larger sailing nations how could a Chinese or a United Arab Emirates team for example challenge under this rule? For that matter how would a Swiss team fare? And wouldn't this leave a lot of Kiwi sailors unemployed? Hopefully this is Grant Dalton in pre-Cup wind-up mode, otherwise there may be a lynch mob coming after him from within his own team...

If Alinghi successfully defend the latest thinking is that the event will go to tender as it did this time and that Valencia may not be so keen to have it back, following the announcement of their hosting an annual Formula 1 Grand Prix from next year on in a country that is F1 crazy at present thanks to the success of Alonso (albeit possibly shortlived thanks to our lad Lewis Hamilton).

If this proves true then the prospect of holding the next Cup in 2009 seems highly unlikely, which would be a welcome move for fledgling teams like Team Origin or even existing teams presently without funding. If for example an Act were to take place later this year how many teams would have sailing squads in place by then?

Another more interesting rumour doing the rounds at present is that if Alinghi successfully defend this time Ernesto Bertarelli might sell the right to the host the 33rd America's Cup. Could this be done? We'll have to do some more digging. If this were the case then the next event could well end up in some cash rich location like Dubai.

If this were the case then it would be a perfect opportunity to set up a more independent body to run both the LV and America's Cups. The new organisation would have to be owned jointly by the defender and challengers or perhaps even be an entirely independent body, somehow accountable to the defender and challengers.

A significant problem with the setting up of such an organisation is that it greatly reduces the prize for winning the America's Cup and the only body able to create such an entity is the winner of the AC who understandably is reluctant to give up this highly lucrative and influential reward for their victory.

Ideally this central body should also decide where not only the Acts are held but also the location of the next America's Cup allowing teams to plan in advance, but this devalues the victor's prize. For example, existing America's Cup teams at present have next to no sponsorship for the 33rd America's Cup because they have no idea where or when or in what boats this event will be held. Having a pre-determined schedule would help with the continuity of the event. Larry Ellison is believed to be keen on holding some AC regattas organised independently from whoever wins the Cup and maybe a splinter move of this sort is what is needed to wrestle some power off the defender.

There is obviously a strong argument that such changes would turn the America's Cup into 'just another regatta'. But the fact is that this event has already evolved out of all recognition in terms of its scale. If the event is to be an obscure ancient competition between eager billionaires then it can do what it wants. If it is to continue down the present highly commercialised route that ACM have taken it then some of its bizarre quirkiness has to be removed.

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