"Team Germany does not see itself in a position to register for the 34th America's Cup within the framework of the rules set by BMW Oracle," said syndicate boss Michael Scheeren. This means that the chances of German participation continue to dwindle.
The team finished eleventh out of twelve boats at the 32nd Cup in 2007, the first time Germany had ever taken part. There will be no improvement. After the British team had already cancelled a day earlier and other potential campaigns withdrew at a very early stage, Team Germany has now also dropped out. The contracts of the employees, including the intended team manager Jochen Schümann and helmsman Karol Jablonski, had already expired on 31 March 2008 due to the uncertain future.
The reasons for the cancellation are apparently the short preparation time, high costs and an unattractive American market for the team's main sponsor, the internet provider 1&1. 1&1 CEO Ralph Dommermuth had previously said that participation in a defence in the USA would not be of interest to his brands, which would have to be present on the European market.
A Cup in the States became even more likely yesterday, as the city fathers of San Francisco voted 9:2 in favour of the necessary changes, meaning that nothing now stands in the way of a bid. Cup defender Larry Ellison had declared the city to be one of his favourites.
Jochen Schümann is therefore currently the only remaining concrete hope for at least partial German participation. He is currently sailing the TP-52 World Championship with the French-German All4one campaign.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
