Team Origin on ice, not the rocks

With a DoG match AC33 on the cards, so there has been further shrinkage of Sir Keith Mills' Cup campaign

With the news that the 33rd America’s Cup is certain to be in big multihulls, compounded by the fact that the venue and timing have yet to be finalised and, even if a Deed of Gift match is sailed, its outcome is likely to be contested in the New York courts…so, inevitably, Sir Keith Mills’ highly promising TeamOrigin America’s Cup campaign has been ‘put on ice’, until such time as there is anything other than quicksand on which to base its plans.

The good news is that this is a substantially better position than the campaign being simply terminated, as back in December Sir Keith intimated he might should Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing be unable to agree on a multi-challenger [monohull] 33rd America’s Cup.

“You have got to be smart: There is no point in just boxing on into oblivion and doing things that aren’t going to help us be involved in the next multi-challenger America’s Cup,” a somewhat deflated Team Director Mike Sanderson told thedailysail. “Everything we have done with TeamOrigin is about being involved in the Cup, whether it is the iShares Cup, the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland, but we need whatever we do to be tied to the America’s Cup and until the new defender defends it and we have an event with some certainty and we are able to tie anything to the America’s Cup - then all we can do is scale right back and make sure we can live to fight another day.”

‘Scale right back’ means, says Sanderson: “not spend money on doing sailing events, which right now we are unable to leverage commercially.”

In terms of being able to raise sponsorship for a Cup campaign, this is virtually impossible at present. There are sponsors potentially interested in backing the British Cup campaign, but among their first questions is always ask is where and when the next event will be. And at present there are of course no answers to this, not even alternatives.

Sanderson continues: “We are already a small team as far as employees, but we have always talked about it still being ‘everyone who is involved in the team…’ but there is no point in us doing a whole lot of programs to further build the brand – we may as well just wait and see what we have got to deal with when we finally have an event.”

A plan for the sailing team had been put in place should Alinghi/SNG win the case in the Court of Appeal. But since they didn’t, this now means that the possible TeamOrigin Mini Maxi campaign using Neville Crichton’s fully rebuilt and lengthened Alfa Junior – that might have provided a valuable training and design platform for the proposed AC33 monohull - won’t be happening. Also they can’t design any boats until there is a rule for the next multi-challenger event.

While being in hibernation, TeamOrigin will continue with the programs it has already committed to. So Ben Ainslie and Mike Sanderson will be sailing the TeamOrigin Extreme 40 in the Round the Island Race, while Ainslie and his crew will continue to compete in the World Match Racing Tour, as planned. According to Leslie Ryan they will still support the RYA’s On Board Program while participating in talks with other challengers about other Louis Vuitton Pacific Series-type events. “If it all adds up and makes sense contributing to the America’s Cup campaign, Keith is willing to address opportunities that come up,” she says.

As to when the next multi-challenger event might be, Sanderson gives the impression he is bored, perhaps more accurately infuriated, by trying to second guess this. “For the last two years we have been making assumptions and speculating on what we can do to be involved and that has just proven pointless because it is totally in the hands of two people. So I have no way of judging how they want to do it.

“I see the Olympic Games as a pretty big block in the middle there in 2012. The question is – can a successful multi-challenger event still be done on this side of the Olympic Games or will it be on the other side of the Games? We would love to think there could be an America’s Cup in 2011, but if these guys don’t race a Deed of Gift match until May 2010, then suddenly we are faced again with a non-commercially viable America’s Cup in 2011. So unless these guys race in February, I now believe 2011 is out and 2012 because of the Games, so 2013 or 14.”

So TeamOrigin has been set up and wound down, all costing Team Principle Sir Keith Mills several million in the process. They have a brand, they have assets, they have a very credible team, but thanks to the Larry and Ernesto feud they, as is the case for all the other potential America’s Cup challengers, have so far been unable to take an actual step towards challenging for the next America’s Cup.

Sanderson continues: “Sir Keith Mills wants to do a multi-challenge America’s Cup and we are very proud of the group of people we have put together and we believe they are a fantastic group and the right group for the job, so we have just got to try and keep it as alive as we can, so we can ramp it up when the time comes. My heart and soul is in TeamOrigin. I am very proud of what we have put together. Keith has been fantastic to work for and with.”

Personally for Sanderson this means he can once again look at other projects. He says he was given his job at TeamOrigin because he was “current” as a sailor and he wants to make sure that he remains current. High on the list of things he would like to do is this November’s two handed Transat Jacques Vabres.

Leslie Ryan concludes: “Keith has spent millions in buying all the assets - we have big assets, a Cup boat, an Extreme 40, RIBs and all the assets we went headlong into buying and they are still all hugely valuable and they are all secured and looked after. There is no question of those going anywhere. We will bide our time. Keith has done everything possible to facilitate discussions [between Larry and Ernesto] but he has reached the stage where he has to hang fire until there is an event with definite certainty where we can challenge. There is no shutting up shop. We just have to use the time now wisely and economically.”

The America's Cup is back in court today with the hearing starting at 1330 GMT. Given precident, it is unlikely that the judges will also rule today, unless the case is so clear-cut....