The press conference in New York was tough and came across like a balloon from which most of the air has already escaped. Bermuda is the venue for the 35th America's Cup. This has finally been officially confirmed, after the sailing world has suspected it for months and known it for weeks. Accordingly, the meeting in the Big Apple lacked esprit and emotion. Only Bermuda's refreshing Premier Michael Dunkley, the super sailor Sir Ben Ainslie in good form and, at times, Cup defender Jimmy Spithill were able to lighten the mood a little.
The British overseas territory of Bermuda, which is better known as a light-winded but very popular picture-book sailing area, has prevailed over the American harbour city of San Diego, which has hosted the Cup several times. It's a prankster who thinks of tax advantages. In fact, in addition to the advantages of the spectator-friendly sailing arena, Bermuda's favourable time zone and, with it, the good television broadcasting options to almost anywhere in the world were obviously the deciding factors.
Bermuda's Premier Dunkley expressed in New York why the Cup could become the Cup of Hearts despite concerns about the interest of major sponsors: "Only four nations have won the oldest trophy in international sailing. Only eight hosts have been allowed to organise the regatta so far. Bermuda is very proud to be the new home of the America's Cup." Similar to Fremantle in 1987, Bermuda is not considered by marketers to be the strongest draw for negotiations with potential team partners. However, hardly anyone had thought it possible that the 1987 regatta off the coast of Western Australia would turn out to be one of the most celebrated in Cup history. Especially not the Germans, whose burgeoning spirit of optimism came to an abrupt end when the venue of Fremantle was announced. A mistake, as many later realised. Perhaps history can repeat itself and small is fine again?
The Americans are daring: for only the second time since the Swiss team Alinghi defended the Cup in Spanish waters off Valencia in 2007 and 2010, the America's Cup will not be held on the defenders' home turf. Five challengers from Great Britain (Ben Ainslie Racing), France (Team France), Sweden (Artemis Racing), Italy (Luna Rossa) and New Zealand (Team New Zealand) want to wrest the Cup from the US team skippered by Jimmy Spithill in June 2017 in a British territory.
Understandably, one of these challengers was noticeably happier than all the others: Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor in sporting history with four gold medals and one silver, wants to bring the ornate silver jug back to his native England. Anglophile Bermuda comes at just the right time. The man who helped the US defenders to victory in the 34th America's Cup as a tactician and wants to beat them next time joked in high spirits: "We want to get the Cup back. We're already halfway there." In other words: the jug has already arrived in British waters. While Ainslie knows the waters off Bermuda well, Franck Cammas, for example, the driver and boss of Team France, has never seen it live - that's how different the teams are.
The defenders had another piece of news to offer in New York: The Red Bull Youth America's Cup will be held again. For the second time, young sailors from all over the world will be given the chance to prove themselves on the small Cup catamarans and put themselves in the limelight. According to Jimmy Spithill, this unique opportunity has already proved where it can lead: The winner of the first Red Bull Youth America's Cup will not be able to defend his title because he has since been signed by Team New Zealand. Peter Burling has indeed succeeded in making it to the upper echelons of the Cup. And Jimmy Spithill used the neat little story to take a swipe at rivals Team New Zealand when he said: "Peter Burling is the potential leader of Team New Zealand." Team New Zealand's representative, Kevin Shoebridge, dismissed the provocation matter-of-factly: "We're delighted to have Peter as a great new talent in the team. That, combined with the experience of Dean Barker and Glenn Ashby, makes for a good mix." His message to the Americans: the old management team is still there.
For the young German sailors around Philipp Buhl and Erik Heil, who are hungry for success and fought for their dream project in 2013 and raised some of the funds themselves, the Youth Cup has not yet worked as a springboard. How could it when there are no Cup competitions in their own country? Philipp Buhl told YACHT online when asked whether he and his team could imagine a second attempt: "Unfortunately, I'm 99 per cent sure that we'll be too old next time, because last time the age limit was 25..."
Questions about the allocation of television rights and other Cup sponsors remained unanswered for the time being. Harvey Schiller announced that he would provide information on this in the coming weeks and months. The commercial director of the US defencemen's team seemed strangely uninvolved and listless at times during the overdue presentation of the future Cup area, and he even lacked an overview of some topics. For example, Schiller was unable to estimate the approximate number of members of all six teams and their supporters who are expected to attend the Cup in Bermuda. Michael Dunkley, on the other hand, never tired of evoking the sailing history and passion of his fellow countrymen: "We have a rich maritime history and our new generation is ready to open the next chapter. Our vision is to present a true and unforgettable event."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
