"We are ready," said President Patrick Monteiro de Barros of the Spanish sailing club Clube Navale de Cascais. He claims to have spoken to Swiss syndicate boss Ernesto Bertarelli two years ago about a possible venue after a Swiss win.
Bertarelli would like to organise the Cup in a country that is not involved with its own yacht.
That would be a clear rejection of Italy, Spain (Palma de Mallorca) and France (Sète) or Monte Carlo, which is not very windproof. Speculation that the Swiss want to go to Singapore does not seem to be true either. Bertarelli has said that he would like to sail the Cup in Europe if he wins.
In Cascais' favour would be the fact that there is a 60-year tradition of hosting regattas here, that the area is characterised by consistent trade winds and that Bertarelli has excellent connections to this club.
This would also dash all hopes of a German harbour (Kiel, Rostock-Warnemünde). The German Jochen Schümann, sporting director of the "Alinghi" team, is said to have only smiled at such suggestions.
