He took part three times himself, twice at the helm and once as navigator. He remembers the Cup from the good old days of the Twelve. But he has long since swapped the role of active participant for that of manager. Troublé, a member of the honourable America's Cup Hall of Fame, has represented the interests of sponsor Louis Vuitton since 1983.
And you really can't say that he believed and trusted Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison's vision of fighting for the sailing crown with Cats right from the start. This makes what Bruno Troublé said yesterday in a commentary for the Scuttlebutt all the more serious:
"The changes in the America's Cup have been extreme and brutal, and in a short space of time. The world of sailing was a world of monohulls. Now the pinnacle of the sport is on catamarans, on television. We all have to swallow this revolution. It will take some time, but the future is bright."
Like many other experts, the 67-year-old was convinced by what he saw and experienced at the latest America's Cup World Series regatta in San Francisco: "Wonderful weather and wind, frequent lead changes, a few but not too many capsizes, a breathtaking finish, an extraordinarily attractive TV package that will change our sport forever!"
Troublé is not a man who is easily inspired. He hasn't missed a day of the Cup since 1977 and was also present at the premiere of the new format in Cascais a year ago, where he was the sixth man, clinging to the narrow tampolin behind the aft beam, and was shown the finesse of the AC-45 cats by Emirates Team New Zealand.
He is also not yet completely satisfied. He warns that participation in the decisive phase in 2013, which will be sailed on the impressively large and immensely powerful AC 72s, is still far too expensive. "In the past, we have seen teams with Euro budgets of 5 to 10 million," says the Frenchman. "But you can't compete next year if you don't have 30 to 40 million euros," he criticises - probably also in view of the lack of a French syndicate in the challenger round. Bruno and Loick Peyron's Energy Team showed their great potential on the AC-45, but did not find the necessary funds for a complete campaign.
Nevertheless, Troublé is satisfied with the new cup. "Russell Coutts, Iain Murray and Stephen Barclay have developed something that will attract a huge and young audience. That's great for our sport!" He is convinced that the 34th America's Cup will be "a huge success in the USA, and the 35th Cup will be even bigger with many more teams if we manage to keep the costs at a reasonable level".
Jochen Rieker
Herausgeber YACHT
