The push by the American Cup defenders, who want to switch to smaller boats between 45 and 50 feet in length for the Cup duel itself in the current 35th America's Cup cycle (YACHT online reported), is in some cases drastic. The proposal is highly controversial in the sailing world. While the defenders are fully or partially supported by some challengers for various reasons in their struggle to reduce costs and possibly save financially weak teams, others are still keeping quiet. Not so the sailing world.
Jochen Schümann has been keeping a close eye on the actions of the American Cup defenders since his second and last victory with Alinghi in 2007. Schümann has often criticised the Cup manoeuvres of the team that defeated Alinghi after a long court battle in an unequal exclusive duel in 2010 and has held the levers of power ever since. The three-time Olympic champion sees the defenders' latest "downsizing" manoeuvre as nothing more than the continuation of a bad Cup course. "You simply have to keep the history of the America's Cup in mind," says Schümann. "The fascination of the America's Cup stems from the once large and imposing yachts. Oracle then reduced the new catamarans first to 72 feet, then to 62 feet. Now the boats are to become even smaller. At some point, all that will be left is a small action spectacle."
Schümann sharply criticises the fact that the Americans' move only comes during the current competition: "Sailing is a complex and complicated sport in itself. Continuity is the be-all and end-all in the battle for the fans' favour. The latest manoeuvre simply shows once again that the current defender is not good for the Cup. In four years, they haven't managed to organise the Cup in such a way that it grows in a healthy way. They are hurting the Cup."
Schümann is not the only one to think back with nostalgia to the 2007 America's Cup, in which twelve teams from nine nations took part. The subsequent forced duel between Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing in 2010 was followed by the 34th America's Cup, the first edition with the new generation of catamarans. The US defenders had wanted to inspire ten to twelve teams for their journey "out of the Flintstone age and into the Facebook generation". In the end, only three answered the call. The qualification, which was overshadowed by the tragic death of British Olympic champion Andrew Simpson, was one-sided - Emirates Team New Zealand sailed through the challenger round too dominantly. It was only in the final duel that exciting and spectacular sailing was served up thanks to the strong performance of the Kiwis and the subsequent comeback of the defenders. But the price was high, as the winners had worked with a budget of well over 100 million euros - unattainable for most campaigns and unaffordable for potential sponsors.
The current attempt to stop the spiralling costs and also give smaller teams a chance to participate seems hectic and comes at an inopportune time, as most teams have already invested millions in the development of the AC62 Cup catamarans that have been targeted so far. Why should they now row back in favour of weaker teams? Team New Zealand commented today: "The idea of reducing the size of the boats is not new. Emirates Team New Zealand suggested it last year. However, some time has passed since then and the teams are well advanced in their design process (ed.: with regard to the planned AC62 catamarans). All ideas relating to this change would have to be discussed intensively and require the approval of all teams." So far, however, this has only been given by the financially weak Team France, Ben Ainslie Racing and, to a lesser extent, Artemis Racing. If the switch to the small catamarans is actually to take place, the defenders will need the agreement of all challengers.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
