The latest news from the America's Cup scene was a shock. Bertarelli has shown Coutts the red card and will hardly give him a chance to turn a wheel in 2007. Instead, there are rumours that Coutts is planning a rival event in the Emirates with Cayard. Is the Cup finished? If the big Cs of the sport - Coutts, probably Conner and maybe Cayard - are not involved, what is the regatta worth?
But there are also positive signs. A strong field of challengers seems to be forming, at least in terms of numbers, in order to fulfil the claim of "best cup ever". The latest news comes from the Spanish. The El-Reto syndicate announced at a press conference yesterday that they had almost covered the 60 million euro budget. The money will be used to buy the 2003 boats from OneWorld and the America True package from 2000, and the announcement as official challenger is imminent. They hope to be able to compete in the regattas in Valencia in October.
Another piece of news comes from the innovative Sausalito Challenge in San Francisco. The Americans, who attracted attention with their search for sponsors on eBay - ten bidders drove the price for a main sponsorship up to 20 million dollars, but did not reach the necessary 30 million hurdle - are once again making a name for themselves. Team boss John Sweeney announced that he would be relying 100 per cent on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the development of the yacht for the first time and would be dispensing with the expensive tank test method altogether. The Americans want to reveal more detailed budget information in August.
The English, on the other hand, have major problems. Peter Harrison explained that he is still 45 million euros short of a "competitive budget" of 75 million euros. He wants to add 30 million euros himself. If the budget is not in place by the end of the month, he will pull out.
The Toscana Challenge team, where Karol Jablonski is under contract and Markus Wieser is due to sign, is also causing concern. An official announcement was expected months ago, but since a major potential sponsor got caught up in the maelstrom of a banking crisis, there has been little news from Livorno.
Alinghi's official challengers so far are BMW Oracle Challenge, Shosholoza Challenge from South Africa and +39 from Lake Garda. BMW Oracle is increasingly becoming the top dog in the Cup. The team is acquiring more and more big names, most recently the former Team New Zealand tactician Bertrand Pacé, and the consensus on the scene is that the syndicate can probably only defeat itself.
All that is known about the underdogs from South Africa is that their budget is said to be a maximum of 25 million euros. The crews under Geoff Meek have just finished eleventh out of twelve starters at the Swedish Match Cup in Lisbon.
The Italian team from Lake Garda will probably not be in the premier league either. President Lorenzo Rizzardi of Circolo Vela Gargnano has signed Giovanni Ceccarelli, the former Mascalzone Latino designer, and Italian Luca Devoti (2000 Olympic silver medallist in the Finn) as team manager and skipper. He has brought together a team of former Finn sailors such as Iain Percy (GBR) (gold in Sydney and Star World Champion), Xavier Rohart (most recently Star World Champion), Rafael Trujillo (ESP) and Andrew Simpson (GBR). Ex-Prada man Lorenzo Mazza (ITA) brings America's Cup experience with him.
Stephane Kandler's French K-challenge team have also announced their participation. It will compete in the first official America's Cup event in Marseille, but still has funding problems. The Australian OzBoyz-Challenge is busy competing in international match races with its young skipper Michael Dunstan. The team boss is Le Défi tactician Sebastien Destremau. There are not many who believe that the youth team will make it to the start in Valencia.
Mascalzone-Latino boss Vincenzo Onorato has assured that he will be there with a winning team in 2007. But the rumours that he has problems are not dying down. Vasco Vascotto and Flavio Favini have been confirmed as members of the Afterguard. But there are also rumours of a joint venture with the Spaniards.
Things have gone quiet around the Scandinavians. However, Jesper Bank said at the match race in St. Moritz that there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. After all, the Victory Challenge package has not been sold, so a start for 2007 is relatively likely. There are ideas for a Danish or an all-Scandinavian team.
Prada, on the other hand, is relatively safe. The official challenge from the Italians is expected shortly. They have been based in Valencia since April and are sailing with the 2003 boats. The skipper will once again be Francesco de Angelis. He is said to have a major car manufacturer on board as a sponsor.
Grant Dalton and his Team New Zealand are also doing very well following the loan he received from Ernesto Bertarelli. This should secure the financial injection from the government. The main sponsor is the Emirates airline and Toyota. Dean Barker has brought his friend Ben Ainslie (GBR) on board as well as some sailors from the illbruck campaign.
Dennis Conner's participation is rather unlikely. He is quoted as saying: "Raising 100 million sponsor dollars in the USA is simply impossible. We would need a billionaire. But we shouldn't be deleted from the websites. We still hope somehow to be part of it."
