Speculation is rife. New boats, a new mode, more crew members - perhaps a new venue and the next Cup in two years' time. But nothing is certain. The protocol is vague on almost all points and hardly specifies anything.
The protocol for the respective Cup is nothing more than a declaration of intent between the defender, again Alinghi, and the first challenger, for the 33rd challenge this is the Spanish yacht club Nautico Espanol de Vela, to sail for the Cup again. It also roughly defines the framework conditions of the defence/challenge.
When and where the next Cup will be held should be announced by 31 December. However, it can also be announced earlier, provided that the 33rd Cup does not take place before 2009 and not after 2011 and that the elimination of the challengers does not begin earlier than 16 months from the announcement date.
This crude formulation clearly shows that the parties are covering themselves in the protocol for any eventuality. The America's Cup Management (ACM), the company organising the Cup, has apparently not yet reached an agreement with Valencia; it is probably a question of money, and officially they are still in negotiations about a planned expansion of the container port, which is located directly next to the Cup port. There are also other candidate cities, it was said.
At a press conference on the publication of the minutes, it was said that the aim was to organise the Cup again in two years' time, to sail the pre-regattas or qualifying regattas (more on this below) with the previous Version 5 boats and to hold the eliminations for the challengers and the Cup Match on new boats. The Cup Match will again be sailed according to the mode: Whoever wins five times first has the jug.
A new type of boat was already hotly debated in the run-up to the event and was actually demanded by everyone involved. Representatives of the ACM and Alinghi also confirmed that it was wanted. "Everyone asked for it, we've now done it," said Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth.
However, it is not certain that the new type of boat will come and that it will be significantly faster and more spectacular, at least no one has committed to this. The relevant passage in the minutes is in the subjunctive mood, as is almost the entire minutes. It does state that the ACM should revise the previous construction rule and present the new version by 31 December 2007, but no later than 18 months before the first regatta with boats built according to this rule. This new rule is intended to produce yachts that measure a maximum of 90 feet overall and have a draught of between 4.1 and 6.5 metres. However, the current version 5 yachts also fall within this specification, so the new rule could also just be a revision of rule 5. Especially as the boats under version 4 were already close to 90 feet in length overall at almost 27 metres. The current yachts are only slightly shorter, as long overhangs have been dispensed with in favour of more volume.
Alinghi designer Rolf Vrolijk, who has been commissioned by the ACM to revise the rule, confirmed to YACHT online: "This is an optional rule, nowhere does it say that it will be like this."
The limit of 6.5 metres draught, combined with the option of a lifting keel to reduce the draught to up to 4.1 metres for craning in and out, was only included in order to comply with an old passage in the foundation charter, which limits the draught to 6.5 metres. It is not yet certain what maximum draught the new rule will stipulate. However, limiting the minimum draught to 4.1 metres also allows the possibility of retaining the Version 5 boats, as their maximum draught is exactly 4.1 metres.
Rolf Vrolijk comments: "We wanted to sit down with all the challengers two years ago and work out the key data for a new class. However, no co-operation was possible and the project was put on hold again. As the defender can determine the conditions of the defence, we have now simply decided that there will be a new rule."
Vrolijk does not accept the argument that the two-year period until the next Cup is too short to introduce a completely new type of boat, especially for new or less well-funded teams: "If we don't do it now and the 34th Cup takes place two years after the 33rd, we will face the same problem in two years' time as we do today. We have to do it at some point."
An increase in the number of crew members, which in some reports is derived from the size of the boat, is also possible, but so is a reduction. This will be determined by the crew weight limit of the new rule, but this limit has not yet been set. Larger boats do not automatically mean a larger crew - if they become larger boats.
On this point, too, the protocol is nothing more than a commitment that leaves room for manoeuvre in all directions, including leaving everything as it is. All other statements are more or less probable declarations of intent. The will to introduce a new, faster, more spectacular class is recognisable. However, as the framework conditions for the next Cup, the date, venue, number of teams and the possibilities for challengers are not yet clear, all doors are being kept open. It could simply be that an agreement with Valencia is reached too late or not at all, the new host wants a quick re-run and there is not enough time to introduce a completely new class. Version 5 could then be reverted to and renamed version 6, perhaps with minor changes.
A real innovation is the possibility of limiting the number of participants in the elimination of challengers. The protocol provides for the possibility of selecting the participants in this round in qualifying regattas.
This passage has apparently been included in case more than 20 teams register and the Cup is held in Valencia again. In that case, the America's Cup harbour would not have enough space. However, it can also be interpreted to mean that the previous pre-regattas, known as Acts, should be upgraded to the extent that they are a genuine pre-selection and therefore decisive for progression. They would therefore not be an exhibition race in various arenas, but real, tough competitions.
With regard to the number of new boats to be built per team, it has been decided that no yacht may be built after version 5 that will be used in the qualifying regattas. Yachts that have already been built may only be modified up to 50 per cent of the original hull surface. For new teams, this means that they can only use existing material from other teams. However, if they do not sell anything, things look bad. However, this passage is also introduced with the words "shall include". It remains to be seen how strictly the English "shall" is to be interpreted here. This rule cannot be intended to exclude or reduce the chances of new teams.
In this respect, it was a smart move by the German team to quickly launch a version 5 yacht, the GER 101, and enter it for the 32nd Cup. This hull, which previously only consisted of one layer of carbon fibre, is considered an old yacht, but is in fact a new one.
Once again, it has been shown that the Cup is also a game of great dodges. The protocol for the next edition, which was supposed to offer more security to young teams who wanted to get off to a flying start, creates one thing above all: uncertainty.
But hasn't that always been the case and the great advantage of the defender?
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
