A lot has happened in this 34th America's Cup cycle. It has been characterised by many negative reports: too few participants, boats that are too expensive and too dangerous and a fatal training accident that took the life of British Olympic champion and family man Andrew Simpson.
Despite futuristic Formula 1 racing cars called AC72s, the challenger series was lacklustre: the Louis Vuitton Cup was more boring than ever before because there were no equal opponents for the outstanding Emirates Team New Zealand on the new, difficult-to-control boats. At the same time, the shock of Simpson's loss had taken the lightness of being from even some of the most fearless sailors. Not a ground on which enthusiasm and euphoria for the new revolutionary America's Cup could flourish. "Much will be forgiven," predicted the wise British Cup expert Stuart Alexander ahead of this summit meeting of the giants, "when the sparks fly in the September showdown. There is much to forgive."
And now the cheating scandal, which resulted in severe jury penalties against Oracle Team USA. Controversy and trouble on many fronts. The American hosts would like to put all this behind them with a gala performance on Saturday and a successful defence of the most coveted sailing trophy in international sailing. But to be on the safe side, their aggressive helmsman James "Jimmy" Spithill has already announced after the recent setbacks for his team: "We are the underdogs." The suspension for his long-time sailing mate and number 1 wing trimmer Dirk de Ridder hurts his team four days before the first starting signal. Crocodile tears or real drama? Until recently, the Americans were considered almost unbeatable. Has the tide really turned?
The eagerly awaited duel between defending champions Oracle Team USA and two-time Cup winners and challengers Emirates Team New Zealand with the rather quiet skipper Dean Barker begins on Saturday. The Austrian television channel Servus TV will be broadcasting the races live from 10.15 pm.
The first day could be the deciding factor: Will one team be clearly superior to the other, as Jochen Schümann and many other experts expect? "We don't know. And I don't think they know either," Barker said at the last big press conference before the start. When asked whether he felt sorry for the beleaguered defenders, the 41-year-old said dryly: "They're already big and good sailors. They'll be fine."
The fact is that the American and New Zealand teams are two worlds that couldn't be more different: The Americans are drawing from the full and know no money worries. Emirates Team New Zealand manager Grant Dalton told Bloomberg, a news channel specialising in business and financial services: "The billionaires set the standards. It's just ludicrously out of control and expensive."
Team New Zealand is the only syndicate in the 34th America's Cup that is largely financed by commercial sponsors and its own government. The Bloomberg comparison between Ellison and the state of New Zealand alone says a lot: Ellison, one of the ten richest people in the world, is said to have a fortune of 40.6 billion US dollars. According to economic experts, New Zealand's gross domestic product totalled around 30.3 billion US dollars in the third quarter of 2012. New Zealand's reign as Cup winner and defender between 1995 and 2003 is said to have flushed around one billion NZ dollars into the New Zealand economy - making it a significant economic factor. This explains the country's intensive commitment to Emirates Team New Zealand, which has a total of around 60 million euros at its disposal for the government contract "Bring back the America's Cup". According to estimates, Ellison's team operates with more than double that amount.
Nevertheless, more and more experts now believe it is possible that David could bring down Goliath. The last encounter between Oracle's Australian helmsman Spithill and Dean Barker was won by the New Zealander and his sworn crew in the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup off Valencia, when he swept the Italian "Luna Rossa" and its then helmsman Spithill off the course 5-0. The fact that two New Zealand junior teams finished at the top of the podium in the new Youth America's Cup this week has further boosted the Kiwis' self-confidence. Barker gleefully explained at the press conference how proud he was of this concentrated Kiwi young talent. The talented American teams finished fifth and tenth in the fleet of ten teams from eight countries.
German TV viewers who don't want to sacrifice their sleep on Saturday to the America's Cup can watch a summary of the events on Sunday on ZDF Sportreportage from 5.10 pm. Although the young German team All in Racing and the Youth America's Cup will take centre stage, reporter Nils Kaben will also report on the first duels for the ornate silver jug.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
