You could almost have thought it was already 1 April and that the American Cup defenders were playing a cracked joke with their latest proposal. But it is 26 March, and chief marketer Harvey Schiller is actually serious. The idea: instead of sailing futuristic catamaran prototypes called AC62 off Bermuda in 2017 as planned, the defenders want to hold not only the preceding World Series, but also the Cup duel itself on smaller and already tried and tested AC45 racers. Schiller's reasoning: "We have just as much responsibility to think about what is healthiest for the America's Cup in the long term as we do to increase the promotional value of the event for the team owners and their partners. Sailing smaller boats in 2017 and beyond is a big step in the right direction."
The main motivation for the unusual proposal is to reduce costs. Schiller says: "The existing operational costs of the teams are too high with a boat like the AC62. We discussed this change at a meeting of participants in London at the beginning of last year. But at the time, only Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand were in favour of the change."
According to marketer Schiller, the teams have now seen and experienced the new boats in action. Schiller claims that a majority of the Cup challengers are in favour of switching to the smaller boats. However, he also admits that there is not unreserved support for the move in the challenger camp.
Sir Ben Ainslie was in favour of a return to the small catamaran format. The skipper and team boss of the strong British Cup campaign Ben Ainslie Racing said: "These boats will lead to a significant reduction in costs, but will be a real challenge for sailors and designers alike." It is only logical that the cash-strapped Team France is delighted at the prospect of drastically reduced costs. Campaign manager Franck Cammas said: "It would be a total game changer for us. We would be able to form a very competitive team for half the cost. Looking at the smaller boats, we can imagine that the America's Cup could be won with a budget of between 15 and 20 million euros."
According to a press release from the America's Cup organisers, the rule changes are currently being written down and will be submitted to the teams for approval by the end of the month. According to initial information, BAR, Team France and the Swedish team Artemis have expressed varying degrees of enthusiasm for the switch to the smaller boats. However, there was initially no comment from Team New Zealands and the Italian team Luna Rossa. On the contrary: Team New Zealands boss Grant Dalton pointed out that the designers had now made great progress with their work.
In the struggle to finance the multi-million euro Cup business while at the same time preserving the America's Cup as an elite event and high-tech showcase of sailing, the defenders and challengers must now consider whether they are making decisions based solely on their own interests or on other criteria as well. One thing is certain: the AC45 catamarans are one foot longer than the minimum size for Cup yachts prescribed by the Cup foundation charter. It remains questionable whether the financially strong teams are actually prepared to give up this advantage, which is always helpful in the Cup, in favour of the less well-financed teams. And it also remains questionable whether the Cup will not become too commonplace with the use of AC45 yachts, as similar catamarans have long been used in series such as the Extreme Sailing Series or the GC32 Racing Tour. Two-time America's Cup participant Tim Kröger said: "The proposal initially seems as if the predators in the America's Cup should be replaced by a flea circus. It may be that this measure will make the America's Cup cheaper. But possibly also less meaningful."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
