The American title defender Oracle Racing under team boss Larry Ellison has new competition. However, the identity of the fourth and fifth challengers is still unknown.
This means that in addition to the challengers from Italy (Mascalzone Latino), France (Aleph) and Sweden (Artemis Racing), two unnamed teams will be at the start. The organisers expect the now announced campaign to reveal the secret of their origins and names soon.
Cup insiders suspect that challengers from New Zealand and Russia are behind the two as yet unnamed teams. According to unconfirmed speculation, Australia, Brazil and South Korea are also considering submitting entries before the deadline on 31 March.
Regatta Director and CEO of Race Management Iain Murray describes the latest development as a great start to the new year. He is confident that he will soon be able to announce even more good news: The first AC 45 yacht is due to be unveiled this month. The 45-foot cats with wing masts are due to sail in the 2011 pre-regattas from June.
However, there is no reason for unadulterated euphoria, as the participation of teams that have already registered is by no means guaranteed. A competitive campaign is likely to require a budget of up to 100 million euros, but some of the financing is not secured. Only one of the challengers, writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine, the Swedes from Artemis, seem to have their money together. Even the challenger of record, Mascalzone Latino, openly admits to having financial problems.
