|
Defender:
Golden Gate YC
San Francisco, USA
Oracle Team USA (formerly Oracle Racing, formerly BMW Oracle
Racing)
After fielding a mind-boggling three-hulled wing-masted rocketship to
wrest control of the trophy and the event, Oracle returns to their San Francisco
home in what appears a position of great strength. James Spithill (Luna
Rossa '07, OneWorld '03, Young Australia '00) is likely to continue as Helmsman
and possibly Skipper under the umbrella of four-time America's Cup winner
Russell Coutts. Coutts publicly said he is evaluating his own role within
the team for the 34th Defense. Though Coutts would probably continue his
duties as CEO of the team, with a particular focus on technology and crew
development, he has not committed yet to any specific sailing duties. It
was announced in late December 2010 that automotive manufacturer BMW would end
their eight-year-long sponsorship, and the team reverted to Oracle Racing, and
later Oracle Team USA.
Oracle Team
USA 2013 America's Cup Site |
Team Blog
(inactive but online)
Other Defender Candidates:
See Cam Lewis entry below.
Background:
Golden Gate YC is the 34th Defender of the America's Cup. The club was
represented in 2007 and 2010 by BMW Oracle Racing. From the earliest
defense of the America's Cup until the trophy was defended by Royal New Zealand
YS in 2000, the defending club's practice was to hold trials among several
yachts or teams to select the best to represent them, and not incidentally to
train and tune the defender candidates in the process. In 2000 and 2003,
defender Team New Zealand, representing Royal New Zealand YS, held "in-house"
contests between their own two boats and crews, but RNZYS did not field
independent competitors to vie for the role of defender, meaning no formal
defense trials were held. In 2007, Alinghi followed the same pattern.
For Alinghi's intended defense in 2009, the absence of an arm's length defender
was the logic that the team attempted to employ to justify the defender
competing against the challengers during their selection series, an intention
that met with heated objection from challengers and America's Cup fans alike.
Oracle stated that they were encouraging participation of additional Defender
Candidates from the US to compete against them for the role of representing
Defender Golden Gate YC, and Oracle has said repeatedly since winning the Cup
that in any case the Defender will not race in the Challenger Selection Series.
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Officially Accepted Challengers:
Notices of
Challenge from additional teams were accepted from November 1, 2010 until March
31, 2011.
New Challengers for 2013:
Artemis Racing
| Royal Swedish YC (Kungliga
Svenska Segel Sällskapet) SWE
This is a new team, but led by America's Cup veteran Paul Cayard as CEO and
accompanied by crew list deep in experienced Cup sailors, Artemis is anything
but a newcomer to the top level of the sport. Backed by Torbjörn
Törnqvist, team Chairman and a co-founder of oil company Gunvor Internationl B.V.,
in fall of 2010 Artemis recruited top-name design and engineering staff,
too. Designer is
Juan Kouyoumdjian (BMW Oracle '07, Prada '03, Le Defi '00-'95), boatbuilder
Killian Bushe, plus Santiago Lange, and three-time America's Cup winner Tom
Schnackenberg (TNZ '00-'95, Australia II '83).
Active in the WSTA, indeed with Cayard serving as the
association's first President, Artemis raced at the Louis Vuitton Trophy
regattas in Nice, Auckland, La Maddalena, and Dubai. Artemis also
maintained an Audi MedCup team through 2010, winning the Championship in their
2007 debut and finishing fourth, third, and fifth in the last three years, but
appears set to shift their focus to the America's Cup, dropping the MedCup
activities in the 2011 season and competing in the multihull Extreme Sailing
Series instead. Terry Hutchinson will Skipper for the ESS, and is expected
to be the skipper on the team's America's Cup catamarans. The team trained
in Florida on two Extreme 40 catamarans, as seen in this
photo gallery.
Törnqvist worked closely with Russell Coutts, now Oracle CEO,
in 2007 to get Artemis Racing's MedCup campaign off on the right track, along
with leadership from Oracle's John Kostecki. In addition to helming duties
for Cayard, Terry Hutchinson (ETNZ '07, Stars&Stripes '03, AmericaOne '00), and
Cameron Appleton (K-Challenge '04-'05 LVA, ETNZ '00-'95), Törnqvist has also
been at the wheel of the MedCup boat.
The team submitted their Notice of Challenge on November 1,
2010, the first day possible (apparently the first additional challenger to do
so) and Artemis held a Press Conference November 8 in Stockholm to detail their
plans. Replay of the webcast is available from Artemis and at the
America's Cup web site.
With the resignation of Mascalzone Latino, per the provision of the Protocol for
the 34th Defense of the America's Cup Artemis automatically stepped into the
role of Challenger of Record. Key additions: Terry Hutchinson as skipper
(until December 2012); Iain Percy, late of Team Origin, as tactician.
Artemis Team
Site and Twitter
Feed
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Energy Team
Challenge |
Yacht Club de
France FRA
Yacht Club de France is represented by Energy Team, the challenge effort
initiated by the Peyron brothers. Loïck Peyron will skipper and head the
design team. Yann Guichard is secondary helmsman. Other crew
includes Yves Loday, Jean-Christophe Mourniac, and Thierry Fouchier, who was Aft
Pit onboard BMW Oracle's USA-17 for America's Cup 33 and has been crewing
with Aleph in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas. Yann Penfornis will
manage the design and building process. Target budget was €60-75 million
over three years. Plans to build two AC72s and acquire two AC45s.
Read
Debut Press Release
On August 1, 2012, the team announced that they did not have
the funding necessary to build thier new yacht as intended, but would continue
to compete in the America's Cup World Series, and enter a Youth Series team as
well, with the goal of becoming an America's Cup challenger for the next defense
of the America's Cup instead.
Read Energy
Challenger withdrawal announcement
In early May 2011, an interview with Bruno Peyron at
Course Au Large said that despite making progress on technical, sporting,
and marketing issues, that funding for the campaign was not finalized, with
Peyron mentioning that Energy was asking America's Cup organizers about the
possibility that his team might not compete in the America's Cup World Series (ACWS)
for 2011-12 to be raced in the one-design AC45 yachts, and instead concentrate
Energy's resources on designing and building their AC72 yachts. The
structure of the 2013 America's Cup and the ACWS, as delineated in the Protocol
for the 34th Defense, requires attendance at the ACWS for all. Allowing a
team to skip ACWS events for the 2011-12 period seems problematic at first
glance from a rules perspective, since the Protocol currently disqualifies a
competitor from this Cup cycle after the second failure to attend a regatta (see
Protocol Article 22.1(ii)), although the Protocol could be amended further.
Training since December 2010 on
DNA beach cats, and plan to use a variety of other multihulls in their
preparation. The first AC72 was intended to be built at Multiplast in
Vannes, France, beginning in September 2011 for an April 2012 launch.
Loïck and Bruno Peyron, longtime multihull experts, first confirmed October 25,
2010, that they were pursuing a challenge, and planned to spend the upcoming
three months securing resources. See stories at
The Daily Sail and
Sport.fr (in French). The idea was also floated at the time that the
Peyron team might at some later point consider combining with another of the
French 2013 challengers, mentioning All4One by name. Officially announced
February 2, 2011, and debuted in a press conference in Paris on February 9.
Energy Team Web
Site
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China Team/Xin
Yi Dai |
Mei Fan Yacht Club CHN
Representatives of a potential Chinese team visited Auckland in February, 2011,
and sailed on the AC45 prototype. Thierry Barot, carrying the title of
General Manager, and designer
Yann Dabbadie also
met with America's Cup officials and say that they hope to begin training soon.
"Xin Yi Dai " translates as "New Generation". China Team was announced as
an Official Challenger on March 28, 2011.
Read Press Release and
Watch
Announcement Video Led by Chinese businessman Wang Chao Yong, the team
intends to recruit foreign experts, but feature Chinese sailors as much as
possible. The team has competed at the ACWS Regattas through Venice, in
May, 2012, skipped the ACWS Newport in June, but returned for the regattas in
San Francisco in August and October of 2012.
Team Web Site
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Emirates Team New Zealand |
Royal New Zealand YS
NZL
On April 21, Grant Dalton, CEO of ETNZ, finally gave official confirmation of
the team's commitment to challenge for the 2013 America's Cup, also announcing a
$36M NZD contribution ($28.6M USD/€19.8M) from the NZ government, and the
addition of Nespresso as sponsor, joining name sponsor Emirates Airlines, Toyota
New Zealand, and Omega watches. Read Stories at
NZ Herald and
Stuff.co.nz
Budget overall for 2013 appears to be in the $150M NZD ($80-85M USD) range,
based on comments by Dalton that the government's portion of the budget is less
than 20% of their total funds. Dalton also pointed out that even with the
other partners, the Nespresso sponsorship was critical, and that the team had
only stayed in business with the help of several private benefactors. See
ETNZ Afloat at Last at NZ Herald
ETNZ had been an official entrant since November, 2010, with their paperwork
in place and an initial entry fee paid for the 2013 event, though publicly
Dalton said only that a final decision would be made in early 2011 once the team
had done further due-diligence, and ETNZ did not even formally admit their
official status until March. Dalton believed the budget for a challenge
would be about the same level as ETNZ spent in Valencia last time, though also
telling the
NZ Herald in October that "We might be wrong about that, so we still have
work to do before we make a decision."
The team said March 16, 2011, that Emirates Airlines would continue to
sponsor the team. The
sponsorship announcement, coming at the same time that ETNZ took delivery of
their AC45 yacht seemed to clinch their plans for 2013, yet publicly Dalton
again hedged about the team's intentions and a full commitment still awaited:
"In the meantime we are developing the sailing team; the design team is working
through concepts for the AC72 catamaran and we are continuing meeting with
several potential sponsors," said Dalton. Securing sufficient funding
seemed a reason for hesitation in declaring their 2013 challenge, along with
considerations that response to the Christchurch earthquake of February, 2011,
could affect the government's financial support for the team.
After GGYC on New Year's Eve 2011 named San Francisco as the location for the
2013 America's Cup, Dalton explained that the choice suited his team well, and
the status of ETNZ's entry now depended on finding suitable sponsorship by March
31.
See "Dalton Happy with Cup Venue" at NZ Herald
Despite public statements that the team had yet to decide about a challenge,
Paul Cayard mentioned in the January 2011 issue of Seahorse magazine that
the Kiwis had actually filed their challenge in November, and Oracle Racing
members said in late January that TNZ was in line to receive one of the early
AC45's, which is a privilege only of officially accepted teams. ETNZ in
February attended official Competitor Forums intended for confirmed teams,
settling the issue for most Cup observers.
See story at Sail-World
Also notwithstanding the official position, four French multihull design
experts, Guillaume Verdier, Hervé Penformis, Romaric Neyhousser, and Benjamin
Muyl, agreed in fall 2010 to join the Kiwi team, according to a
report at Voiles et Voiliers. In October, 2010, Magnus Clarke,
wingsail designer from the I4C (aka "The Little America's Cup"), was said to
sign on with ETNZ, along with
Steve Killing,
designer of the C-Class cat Canaan which Clarke campaigned to win the
2010 event. In April, 2011, the presence of Gino Morelli and Pete Melvin
on the design staff was formally acknowledged, too.
Read more at Sail-World
ETNZ not only has the longest record in the America's Cup of any active team,
but preceding 2010 the Kiwis were the Defender or Challenger in the previous
four Matches stretching back to San Diego in 1995, and they narrowly missed
becoming the challenger in 1992. Hurt by the departure of many key team
members following the 2000 Defense, and underachieving against Alinghi in 2003's
heart-breaking loss of the Cup, ETNZ brought in Grant Dalton to put their
efforts back on track for 2007. With Dalts as Managing Director, ETNZ won
the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup to become the 32nd Challenger. They took two
races from the Defender, and nearly won a third.
The sailing side has been hard at work, too, on the transition to catamarans.
Dean Barker sailed a multihull ETNZ entry in an Extreme Sailing Series (ESS)
regatta in Almeria, Spain, in October, 2010. While the team said at the
time that although that regatta was a helpful learning experience, they had no
plans at that time to race Extreme 40s in 2011. TNZ eventually did decide
to enter an ESS team with Dean Barker (Skipper), Glenn Ashby (Tactician), James
Dagg (Trimmer), and Jeremy Lomas (Bowman). ETNZ also has picked up sponsor
Camper to fund a Volvo Ocean Race campaign for 2011-2012, a parallel program to
their America's Cup effort that is intended to help keep the team's design and
sailing staff sharp. Key staff includes: Dean Barker as Skipper (since
2000), Adam Beashel as Strategist. Significant changes since 2007: Added
Ray Davies as Tactician. Notable Departures: Hamish Pepper, tactician.
ETNZ's America's Cup record: Challenger (won 5-0), 1995; Defender (won 5-0),
2000; Defender, 2003 (lost 0-5); Challenger, 2007 (lost 2-5).
Emirates Team New
Zealand Blog |
ETNZ
America's Cup Team Site
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Luna Rossa Challenge (Prada) |
Circolo della Vela
Sicilia ITA
After adding America's Cup-winning helmsman Ed Baird (Alinghi '07-'10, Young
America '00) to the boat in 2010, expectations for Luna Rossa in the next Cup
cycle were again high. Joining veterans Torben Grael and other talented
sailors who helped LR reach the LVC Final in 2007 against ETNZ, the Italian team
looked to be a serious contender this time out as well. A member of the
WSTA, Luna Rossa was actively racing at the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in
Auckland in 2009, and at the Louis Vuitton Trophy races in Nice and La Maddalena
in 2010 with a crew including Matteo Plazzi, Max Sirena, and Robert Schiedt.
The team's web site indicated they planned to compete at the Louis Vuitton
Trophy in Dubai, UAE, November 13-18, 2010. Massimilano Sirena has been
skipper for LR's Audi MedCup campaign. Outside of America's Cup Class
racing, Luna Rossa also won the 2009 Middle Sea Race and finished second overall
in the 2009 Fastnet. Having dominated the challenger fleet in 2000 to win
the LVC Final against Paul Cayard and AmericaOne in the epic nine-race "streetfight"
series, as well as overcoming a shaky start in 2003 to go on the semi-finals,
the "Silver Bullet" of Prada/Luna Rossa has nearly always been a force to reckon
with.
All of which made it even more surprising in June 2010 when Patrizio Bertelli
told Italian media outlets that the team would not be involved in the 34th
America's Cup. Luna Rossa did later compete in several Mediterranean
events such as the Audi MedCup and the team fielded an X40 catamaran, for a 2011
Extreme Sailing Series entry. Bertelli at earlier points had also declared
his team to be out of the 2007 America's Cup before reversing course, so many
Cup fans in Italy and around the world held out hope that a change of heart
might bring this top team back to America's Cup competition. Officially,
in September, 2010, the team said only that "future plans will be decided in
coming months." When the March challenge entry deadline passed, though,
Luna Rossa appeared to be out of the America's Cup for 2013. One slight
hope appeared in June, with an unnamed team's press conference unveiling
scheduled close to the timing of an IPO from Bertelli's company, a transaction
which might have provided ample funding for Luna Rossa's Cup campaign, but it
was not the case and the chance for a LR entry for 2013 looked to be nearly
zero. Then on October 19, 2011, to much surprise an
announcement (pdf) from Prada was published on the Hong Kong stock exchange
that stated the company was in negotiations with Luna Rossa to sponsor the team
for the 2013 America's Cup with a budget of €40 million. Official
confirmation of the team's intentions, or whether the deal has been finalized,
has yet to be made public. A report at
LiveSicilia.it on October 29 said that GGYC has accepted the team's Notice
of Challenge, and that Max Sirena and Ben Ainslie could be skipper and helmsman,
and on November 2
Luna Rossa officially announced their return to the America's Cup for 2013.
Named "Luna Rossa Challenge 2013" this time out, the Italian effort will
represent Circolo della Vela Sicilia. The team will try to offset their
late start in a very steep development cycle by cooperating with ETNZ in design
and technology development, which is permitted under the rules of the 2013
America's Cup.
Notable departures: Francesco De Angelis, long-time Luna Rossa Skipper ('00,
'03, '07), has not been active with the team in recent years; James Spithill,
who distinguished himself at the helm in 2007, soon after left for BMW Oracle
where he now looks the heir to Russell Coutts as skipper; and though Ed Baird,
Alinghi's 2007 Helmsman, participated in the LVT/WSTA races as recently as June,
2010, his name does not currently appear on LR crew lists, and Baird announced
in late October, 2010, that his 2011 plans center on Quantum Racing's MedCup
entry.
Luna Rossa's America's Cup record: Challenger, 2000 (lost 0-5); Challenger of
Record, 2003; Louis Vuitton Cup Finalist, 2007 (lost
0-5 to ETNZ).
Luna Rossa Team
Site and
America's Cup Team Site
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Officially Accepted But No
Longer Participating:
White Tiger Challenge | Sail Korea Yacht Club KOR
White Tiger Challenge was the first Korean entry ever into the America's Cup.
Inclusion of the Sail Korea YC in ACEA's April 1 announcement about Venezia was
indirectly the first confirmation of Korea's status. Dong Young-Kim is
Team President. The white tiger is a national symbol of Korea. It
was announced
June 18, 2012, that Team Korea had paid their entry fee for the 2013
America's Cup. No construction on an AC72 yacht was ever detected, and as
2013 progressed, with the other teams sailing their new AC72's but no Korean
boat in sight, Team Korea officially
confirmed in
March 2013 that they were not going to be a challenger for 2013. Korea
also withdrew from America's Cup World Series activities, namely the April 2013
regatta in Naples, but expressed an intent to make another try for AC52, the
next America's Cup.
Team Web Site
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Aleph Team France |
Aleph Yacht Club FRA
Bertrand Pacé is a key leader for this team managed by principal Philippe Ligot,
but Pacé does not plan to be helmsman. In a Press Conference October 1,
2010, the team said their intent was to hire 20 sailors, and maybe recruit other
French multihull experts like Loïck Peyron. One such addition since is
Alain Gaultier, who joined the team December 1, 2010, bringing multihull
experience that extends to ocean racing and inland lakes on top of his
participation in Alinghi's catamaran defense against BMW Oracle. Budget
target said to be in the €50 million (US $69.6 million) range, with an internal
deadline to have 75% of funding in-hand before the challenge notice period
closes. Active in the WSTA, Aleph raced in the Louis Vuitton Trophy
regattas in Nice in 2009, and in Auckland and La Maddalena in 2010.
Although in the LVT Aleph's association was with the Yacht Club de France, as an
America's Cup 2013 challenger Aleph Team France represented Aleph Yacht Club,
which, though recently created, appeared to comply with terms of the America's
Cup Deed of Gift. The team announced December 10, 2010, that their Notice
of Challenge had been officially accepted by GGYC. Via Twitter Aleph
quickly denied a report that surfaced on March 9, 2011, suggesting the team was
withdrawing. On April 20, 2011, Phillippe Ligot told canyousea.com that
funding for a competitive budget needed to be in place by April 30, 2011, and
that the team had still not reached that goal. Despite those reports,
Aleph went on compete in the fall 2011 America's World Series events in Cascais,
Plymouth, and San Diego.
Aleph signaled in March, 2102, however, that they weren't
meeting funding goals and
expressed hope that they could instead continue as an ACWS team with an eye
toward fielding a full challenge for the 35th Defense of the America's Cup in
possibly 2015 or 2016. Unfortunately, with the 2012 ACWS Naples regatta
approaching, the America's Cup Event Authority confirmed April 4, 2012, that
Aleph was withdrawing from the 2013 America's Cup and the ACWS. In their
public statements via americascup.com Aleph team leadership cited difficulty in
fundraising, but praised the new format of the regattas. "Although this
new circuit is starting to fulfill its promises and in spite of very promising
sporting results against the best teams," said Hugues Lepic, Chairman, "the
economic environment does not allow us to go all the way to San Francisco in
2013.”
"We fought hard," said Philippe Ligot, CEO, "with all our
drive and enthusiasm, to find a budget allowing us to participate in the final
phase of the 34th America’s Cup. We did not want to compete with resources
that would not allow us to credibly challenge the best teams. France has,
without a doubt, all the sporting, technical and managerial talent to win the
Cup but the current economic environment makes funding a commercial team
extremely difficult." Aleph Team Web Site (unavailable)
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Green Comm Challenge |
Club Nautico de Valencia (ESP)
Announced June
23rd, 2011, solving the mystery of the last unnamed team in the 2013
America's Cup. Led by Francesco de Leo, with Luca Devoti as Sports Team
Manager, the challenge will train in Valencia with crew selection trials coming
in September particularly focused on recruiting young sailors. Target
budget is €40M. Expo
2015, a Universal Exposition to take place in Milan in 2015, has been
announced as a sponsor of the challenge. Though key leadership is
Italian, and organizers say they will draw from talent across Europe, the RCNV
effort is presented as the Spanish Challenge. Vasilij Žbogar was helmsman
on the team's AC45 in August 2011 in Cascais. Others bringing plenty of
top Finn class experience include Jonathan Lobert, Ed Wright, Zach Railey,
Anthony Nossiter, Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, Alex Muscat, Jorge Zarif, and Paul
Hobson. Green Comm raced in the first three America's Cup World Series
events, but declined to enter the first 2012 event, in Naples in April.
The Protocol rules do not disqualify a team that misses only one ACWS regatta,
but the move created uncertainty about their continued prospects for the 2013
America's Cup, especially when published plans for the following ACWS in Venice
did not incorporate the Spanish team into planning and logistics. March 1,
2012, team representatives reaffirmed Green Comm's intention to build and race
their AC72 yacht, telling
Scuttlebutt Sailing News: "There has been speculation whether Green Comm
Racing will have an AC72 yacht. I can tell you that not only will we have
an AC72 yacht, we are fully committed to that, we are not involved just for fun
or to play." Despite that statement, on April 17th news reports confirmed
Green Comm's withdrawal. There is further background (see
America's Cup Jury Notice JN038 (pdf)) involving payments still owed by the
team as a result of a collision between AC45 yachts in Plymouth last September,
and Green Comm in fact is reported by the America's Cup Jury to have submitted
their notice to withdraw on April 10th. Team Website: Green Comm Racing
(unavailable)
In 2009, associated with yacht club Circolo Vela Gargnano (CVG),
Green Comm proposed that they face off against GGYC/BMW Oracle's 90-foot
trimaran USA-17 for the right to challenge Alinghi in the 2010 America's
Cup, a right GGYC had spent nearly two years in court to establish. GGYC
was under no obligation to face Green Comm or other teams first and, not
surprisingly, declined the offer. CVG was a challenger candidate in 2007,
with their representative +39,
finishing 9th of 11 challenger entries, with a 5-15 record in the first two
rounds of the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup.
Green Comm organizers point out that their 2013 effort is not directly connected
to +39 or CVG.
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Venezia Challenge |
Club Canottieri Roggero di
Lauria ITA
Officially confirmed on April 1.
Read Press Release
Venezia announced on their
website
March 29 that the team's official Notice of Challenge had been filed. In
mid-September 2010 this Italian start-up responded with favorable comments about
the new protocol and the multihulls that will race in the 34th Defense, stating
that they were beginning a fundraising phase in support of their intended
challenge. On December 16, a message from the team noted that backers
Carlo Magna, Emanuela Pulcino, and Elio Faravelli, Team CEO, had met with the
Mayor Of Venice regarding cooperation, and that the team intended on entering
the America's Cup. Cesare Pasotti is Team Manager. Announced
February 11 that the yacht club they were representing was Societá Canottieri
Marsala, but per the team's announcement on March 29, Venezia is now associated
with Club Canottieri Roggero di Lauria in Palermo. Venezia affirmed in
early May, 2011, that they had paid their $200,000 performance bond, and were in
line to take delivery their AC45 yacht on May 8, the seventh boat of the class.
Tovar Mirsky, a 25-year-old from Australia, was
named helmsman
on June 6, 2011, and Ganaga Bruni was announced as a Team Coach. On July
25, 2011, however, America's Cup organizers
announced via
Press Release that Venezia was unable to meet commitments required need to
remain an official challenger candidate for the 2013 match and had been excused
from participating in the event, including the ACWS regattas and the Louis
Vuitton Cup.
Venezia Team Site
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Team
Australia |
Multihull YC of Queensland AUS
The challenge was officially accepted January 11, 2011, and
publicly announced on February 15. When America's Cup organizers
announced the current teams on June 15, 2011, though, Team Australia was not
included, with the implication that Australia might not be proceeding as a
challenger candidate for 2013. Team representative Peter Baker
stated June 16 that the team was finalizing legal requirements and still
hoped to go forward for the 2013 event.
A Sydney sailor and businessman, Baker came forward February
18th as one of the backers of the effort, the
Sydney Morning Herald reported. Adam South, Neville Wittey, Jason
Waterhouse, Lisa Chamberlin, Steve Brewin, Taylor Booth, Chris Caldecoat, and
Josh McKnight were
noted by Sail-World as the sailors taking a turn on the new AC45 in
Auckland, representing a variety of experience and ages in multhulls, skiffs,
and some match racing to boot. Budget will rely on fundraising, seeking
Australian corporate and private patrons, with the first hurdle to raise enough
money to secure an AC45 multihull. Team Australia is representing
Multihull YC of Queensland, it was revealed February 23, several days after the
announcement of the challenge's acceptance.
Baker's involvement helps confirm Team Australia as an
extension of the YuuZoo effort that emerged in December, 2010. On December
13, the Daily Telegraph reported that Ludde Ingvall, a two-time winner of the
Sydney-to-Hobart Race, was exploring the feasibility of a challenge from down
under. It was
announced December 21 that they had filed their Notice of Challenge with
Golden Gate YC. Surprisingly, Ludde Ingvall was quoted February 16 at
The Australian.com saying that he wasn't associated with the Team Australia
effort, and Peter Baker clarified in the Sydney Morning Herald on February 18
that Ingvall had helped in setting up the syndicate, but was no longer involved.
In December, Ingvall told
The Australian that a successful challenge could be done for a lot less than
$50 million USD. Ingvall discussed the project's goal in depth in this
interview (10 minutes) at
YouTube. The syndicate is focused on creating a "truly Australian"
team and providing opportunities for Australian professional sailors while
fostering the growth of youth sailing programs at home as well. Staff
includes Dario Valenza (Project Manager). Team Australia Web Site
(unavailable)
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Three Unnamed Teams Identity
Not Announced
Three teams that submitted Notices of Challenge accepted by Golden Gate YC did
not disclose their identities, and also apparently failed to satisfy financial
deadlines since they were not confirmed as competitors by Golden Gate YC in
their June 15 Press Conference. An additional entry that was not confirmed
June 15 was Team Australia, noted above, though the team soon afterwards said
that they were in the process of finalizing legal and funding issues. The
remaining three teams, though, are presumed out of the 2013 America's Cup at the
present, though there are provisions whereby they could potentially compete in
the America's Cup World Series.
As the early challenge deadline closed, ACEA announced on
April 1 that additional teams had submitted their entry documents, but their
identities not publicly revealed at the time. Shortly afterward, Venezia
Challenge's entry was termed official, and on April 6, Korea's. GGYC's
policy is to keep the names of submitted challengers confidential in order to
allow the teams to coordinate their own public announcements. Speculation
varies as to true identities. Canada and Russia were the most common
guesses. According to James Boyd of the Daily Sail, ACEA's Richard Worth
said that none of the unknown challenges are from the United Kingdom.
Team Australia was for several weeks an
unnamed-yet-official team following acceptance of their Notice of Challenge in
January. Team New Zealand was unnamed until mid-March, though they filed
their Notice in November and had access to competitors meetings and the AC45 in
January and February before acknowledging that their paperwork was in place,
though see below for Grant Dalton's comments on their status. China Team
revealed their official entry on March 28, and Korea on March 29, without
disclosing their date of entry.
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Resigned:
Mascalzone Latino |
Club Nautico di Roma
ITA (Original Challenger of Record for 2013)
Team President and Sponsor Vincenzo Onorato was a staunch and outspoken
supporter of BMW Oracle during the legal and public relations battles that took
place between the American team and the former defender from 2007-2010.
Onorato was particularly concerned about maintaining the special character of
the regatta and respecting its traditions and history while maintaining good
sportsmanship in the modern era, making CNdR and Mascalzone's acceptance as
Challenger of Record a natural step for the 34th America's Cup. The team
was active at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Regattas, led by Gavin Brady, with an
afterguard including Morgan Larson, Flavio Flavini, and Cameron Dunn, among
others. Audi has been a sponsor of Mascalzone's LVT entry, and may
continue to do so for the America's Cup. Sadly, Mascalzone Latino resigned
from the 2013 America's Cup on May 12, 2011, citing difficulty securing the
budget they believed they needed to be a competitive challenger.
Read Letter
from Vincenzo Onorato explaining their resignation.
Masclazone Latino Team
Web Site
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Challenger Candidates from 2007:
Luna Rossa Challenge (Prada) |
Yacht Club Punta
Ala ITA
See Luna Rossa entry above under Officially
Accepted Challengers.
Areva/K-Challenge
See All4One entry below.
Desafío Español ESP
Competed in the Audi MedCup in 2009, but has not been recently active as an
America's Cup team.
+39
Challenge |
Circolo Vela Gargnano
ITA
"Piu Trentanove" was not active as a team in recent years and was not expected
to challenge again. Their ACC yacht was for sale as of late 2010. Named
for the international telephone code for Italy, (formerly Clan Des Team).
A persistent and unconfirmed rumor was that another group associated with CVG
was interested in a multihull challenge, which turned out to be true (see
Green Comm Challenge).
Victory Challenge | Gamla Stans Yacht Sällskap SWE
The Swedish team has been quiet since 2007, though they did submit an entry for
the aborted 2009 regatta. Team Site (offline)
Shosholoza (South African Challenge) |
Royal Cape YC RSA
Captain Salvatore Sarno, the principal of this crowd-pleasing team, told an
Italian audience in mid-December 2010 that they would not be a challenger for
the 2013 America's Cup, according to a
report (in Italian) at Zerogradinord.it. Team Site (offline)
UITG
| Deutscher Challenger YC GER
United Internet Team Germany has not been active since 2007, and contracts with
crew and staff were reported to have expired in 2008. A statement was
issued October 5, 2010, that they would not be a challenger for 2013. The
team's web site appears to be closed to the public.
China
Team | Qindao International YC CHN
Had not been active in the America's Cup since 2007, but China returns to
challenge for 2013 with an announcement on March 28, 2011, that their Notice of
Challenge has been officially accepted. See
China Team Entry above
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Hopefuls: Potential New Challenger Hopefuls for 2013 or
Beyond:
Active:
Ben Ainslie Racing |
Royal Cornwall
YC GBR
When Team Origin, billed as the British America's Cup
Team, pulled the plug in October 2010, two reasons were cited either directly or
in press reports: money and the commitments that key sailing team members
including Ben Ainslie had to 2012 Olympic campaigns. Ainslie, a three-time
Olympic gold medalist, had been Team Origin's skipper and helmsman. On
January 6, 2012, advance word came from "Ben Ainslie Racing" of an upcoming
press conference and web broadcast on January 10, to announce the sailor's
"post-Olympic" plans. Images of an Ainslie-liveried AC45 and associated
video also turned up around the web. Speculation ran from the launch of an
entire new British challenger to just Ainslie launching a team to compete in the
AC45 catamarans, but not the America's Cup and Louis Vuitton Cup, which is
permitted under the rules.
A story January 9, 2012, by Kate Laven at
The Telegraph said instead that Ainslie will be joining Oracle Racing, but
competing on his own AC45 to possiblly flush out backing for a full-on
challenger campaign in the following America's Cup. On January 10, 2012,
at his press conference
Ainslie confirmed that he has signed with Oracle for the 2013 America's Cup and
is not mounting his own independent challenge this time around, but is looking
to do so for the 35th Defense. Ainslie will race an AC45 yacht in the
America's Cup World Series, beginning in San Francisco in August, 2012, and play
a role in Oracle's defense of the America's Cup.
Starting a new challenge effort seemed a pretty difficult task at this late
point in the America's Cup cycle, but with enough money and some shared design
efforts, as permitted for this edition of the Cup, it wasn't impossible to put a
boat on the starting line. The return of a British team to America's Cup
racing would probably have been a welcome sight for fans and organizers alike,
but considering that Ainslie's Olympic plans run into late summer, a very
capable management organization would have had to be in place almost instantly,
and if Ainslie was to skipper, he would have had half the multihull racing time
his competition did. As for building a new AC72, being competitive against
teams that have 12-15 months head start in a 30-month window, and will be
launching boats this summer, really isn't in the cards. Ainslie said as
much at his press conference: "Have to be very clear we have absolutely no
intention whatsoever of competing as a challenger for the 34th Americas Cup, you
know it's just not realistic in the timeframe that we have in terms of putting
the team together, designing and building an AC72."
Funding for the AC45 effort is coming from Larry Ellison, according to
Ainslie, and based on his press conference comments is at least in the €3
million per season range. BAR will be representing the
Royal Cornwall
YC, which Ainslie has been associated with since he was a junior sailor.
Details of who will crew with Ainslie on the BAR AC45, and Ainslie's function
within Oracle's defense activities will be forthcoming.
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Formerly Active:
All4One
(formerly Areva/K-Challenge) |
Cercle de la Voile de Paris/Kieler
Yacht-Club FRA/GER
All4One added Jochen Schümann (Alinghi '07-'03, Fast 2000 '00) as Skipper, who
had been a mainstay of the 2003 and 2007 Alinghi teams before departing to field
a German team that tried to get off the ground following the 2007 Cup.
Schumann also brought Matti Paschen, Michael Muller with him from "Team
Germany", not to be confused with United Internet Team Germany or Audi Sailing
Team Germany, all of which are separate entities. All4One was active in
the WSTA Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas, finishing third in La Maddalena and
fifth in Nice and Auckland. A4O also participated in the Audi MedCup
circuit in 2010. Since 2007, All4One has also included John Cutler, and
Sébastien Col (Areva '07, Le Defi '03-'00) on the helm. Said to be
considering an Extreme40 catamaran campaign for 2011 to build multihull skills.
Stéphane Kandler is Managing Director, has mentioned feasibility of a one-boat
campaign for €36 million budget.
The last week of January 2010, All4One announced a three-year sponsorship
from Audi for their MedCup TP52 campaign, to be known as "Audi Sailing Team
powered by All4One", but so far has given no specifics of their America's Cup
plans, if any. The team is affiliated with two yacht clubs in two
countries, Cercle de la Voile de Paris and Kieler Yacht-Club, which will likely
have to be resolved when they enter the 2013 Cup, and most recent signs point to
Germany being the most probable. Reports in late March suggested that
sponsorship was in place and an official announcement could be imminent, but the
news turned out to involve other racing and though leaders still talk of making
an eventual tilt at the America's Cup, the team's near-term focus now looks to
be elsewhere. Areva was a Challenger Candidate for the 2007 America's Cup.
All4One Team Website
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Synergy Russian Sailing Team RUS
Coming to the LVT from the Audi MedCup circuit, Synergy put the experienced
Karol Jablonski behind the wheel of an America's Cup Class yacht for the Louis
Vuitton Trophy regattas and placed second in La Maddalena (losing only 2-3 to
ETNZ in the Final) and third in Nice, beating Team Origin. Founded by
Valentin Zavadnikov, and backed by a group of Russian businessmen, the team
includes America's Cup veteran Josh Belsky in addition to a largely Russian
crew. Karol Jablonski was no longer helming the boat in October 2010, at
the Audi MedCup Calgiari, and some observers were quick to interpret this as a
sign that Synergy would not be a challenger for the 2013 America's Cup.
However, Synergy backer Mikhail Tuzov accepted a position on the board of
America's Cup Race Management (ACRM) through at least May 31, 2011, indicating
the Russian team is working on a challenger campaign, which is what Maxim
Logutenko, Team Manager, confirmed in an
interview with Sailing World in early October. The team also plans to
continue their Audi MedCup program in 2011. Synergy backers hope to have a
2011 or 2012 America's Cup regatta held in Russia. No word yet on which
yacht club Synergy would represent. Notable departure: Karol Jablonski, to
Argo Challenge.
Synergy Team Web Site
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Red Maple Racing
| Royal Canadian YC CAN
Rumors grew louder at the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Dubai in late November that a
Canadian challenger might be returning to the America's Cup after a more than
20-year absence for the northern sailors. On December 1, the
Toronto Star reported that members of three Canadian yacht clubs were
exploring the prospects of a combined America's Cup challenge for 2013.
Royal Canadian YC would be the challenging club, but cooperation from
Royal Halifax YS and
Royal Vancouver YC is
part of the campaign. Backed by a group including investment banker Kevin
Reed, serving as Chair of RMR, and including Paul Henderson, a former head of
ISAF, the team's initial talk was of a budget in the $30-45 million range
(presumably Canadian dollars). The intent is for a true national effort
with an all-Canadian crew. The organizers set a period of 60 days to firm
up their feasibility evaluations, but there has been no public announcement of
their direction.
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Additional Teams:
Twenty-four teams sent representatives to a meeting in Paris, France, on October
22, 2010. Said to represent a combined 13 countries, the teams met with
America's Cup Race Management (ACRM) and Event (ACEA) officials, who provided
supporting information while the prospective teams worked on firming up their
funding and staffing in hopes of becoming official challengers. Although
identities were kept confidential at that early stage, after the meeting Iain
Murray, Regatta Director for ACRM, told
Sail-World that the potential teams were primarily European, with an Asian
contingent, too, but no Australian group attended. The French sailing site
Voiles et Voilers reported that there were representatives from Italy,
Spain, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, and
Switzerland, which list appears to vary slightly from ACRM's report.
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Rumored, Hinted, Imagined, Rejected, or Denied:
Potential Additional Defender Candidates:
Cam Lewis
Multihull expert Cam Lewis was working on organizing a second defender team,
The Daily Sail
reported in mid-October, 2010.
Africa Diaspora Maritime
Headed by Charles M. Kithcart, ADM submitted an application in March, 2011,
seeking to become a Defender Candidate. GGYC sent a letter April 15, 2011,
notifying ADM that their application had been rejected. In December, 2011,
ADM filed a lawsuit claiming that their application had been rejected unfairly,
and alleging various transgressions by GGYC. GGYC for their part, pointed
out that under the Protocol for the 2013 America's Cup, Article 8.3 allows them
to review the applications of prospective Defender Candidates and accept those
that it is satisfied have the resources necessary to have reasonable chance of
winning a defender's series. Further, nothing in the Deed of Gift requires
GGYC as Defender to consider multiple Defender Candidates or to hold a selection
series for choosing their representative to defend the Cup. A series of
filings in the court case building toward a hearing June 27, 2012, produced the
usual tangle of claims and counter-claims, some focusing on arcane legal issues,
and others staking out grossly varying interpretations of events and intentions.
ADM asked the court for a list of remedies including: delaying the 2013
America's Cup to allow them time to design and build their boat; a defender
series against current GGYC representative Oracle Team USA applying competition
penalties against Oracle; financial damages from GGYC in excess of $1,000,000
USD; GGYC providing at least two AC45 yachts, valued in the millions of dollars,
for ADM's use in ACWS competition; changes to the event organization for the
America's Cup; and removal of GGYC as the Trustee (that is the Defender) of the
America's Cup.
GGYC in turn characterized ADM's suit as based on misapprehensions of the
rights of a foreign Challenger as compared to a US team that might sail on
behalf of the defending US yacht club. While the Protocol gives GGYC no
right to reject an intended challenging yacht club who fully complies with the
both the 2013 entry requirements and the Deed of Gift, GGYC has their own
discretion over who they select as their representative to defend the America's
Cup and how that representative is chosen. GGYC representatives have
suggested that one of the motivations for the suit is monetary gain. Some
press reports state that funding for Kithcart's legal battle is coming from
people who dislike Larry Ellison, and although Kithcart apparently confirms this
scenario, he has not identified these donors.
Africa
Diaspora Maritime Team Site
The situation of an unaccepted would-be defender candidate disputing their
status with the defending yacht club is not unprecedented. In 1901, Thomas
Lawson, despite being unaffiliated with the New York YC, built a radical but
uninvited boat, Independence, with which he intended to defend the
America's Cup. The NYYC saw it otherwise. While Lawson's situation
is not identical to ADM's today, then, as now, under the Deed of Gift it was the
domain of the defending yacht club to select their representative.
Read article at CupInfo: Lawson's Independence, Rockefeller, and the
America's Cup
On January 18, 2013, the New York Supreme Court dismissed the case, with
Justice Barbara Kapnick finding that GGYC had acted in good faith when they
declined to accept ADM's application.
See story at Thomson Reuters and access legal documents at NY
Supreme Court
Records On-Line Library (search case# 653419-2011). ADM appealed the
decision.
On June 25, 2013, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld two
elements of the appeal, dismissing complaints against GGYC on the trust issues,
but ruling that the breach of contract issue cannot be properly evaluated or
dismissed by the Appellate Court at the current stage of proceedings, making it
likely that further hearings would be needed before the Supreme Court. ADM
has begun the process for those hearings, but the Appellate Division ruling
itself is being appealed as well by GGYC, filed July 18, 2013, pleading to New
York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, that the facts alleged by ADM do not
support a breach of contract suit and such a suit should not rightly be a matter
for the Supreme Court.
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Challengers:
Australia Simon
Grosser
The possibility of another Ozzie team was being explored by Simon
Grosser, with patronage from Sir James Hardy.
Mark
Turner
Possible manager for a potential campaign on an aggressively leaner budget than
many teams were first discussing in early Fall, 2010. Turner thinks that a
team budget even under the 36 million that All4One has floated could be
competitive. A report by
Stuart Alexander at the Independent suggested this could be the nucleus of
an enthusiast-centered campaign.
Austrian Team
Believed to have attended the October 22, 2010, competitors meeting in Paris,
but no other details available at present. Docktalk floated the idea that
this challenge could involve sponsor Red Bull which supported repeat Olympic
Gold Medalists
Roman Hogara and Hans-Peter Steinacher as the Red Bull Extreme Sailing Team
in the multihull Extreme Sailing Series. The Austrian pair also
helped James Spithill prepare for BMW Oracle Racing's 2010 America's Cup
match. They also become the point men for the Red Bull Youth America's
Cup, helping to guide the selection process and encourage young teams, and in
March 2013
announced they will form the core of an America's Cup World Series Team
named "HS Racing" with support from Oracle.
Spanish
Team
Reports in Spanish media in early February 2011 were that energy
company Iberdrola had met with Valencian authorities in exploration of
sponsoring a challenger. Iberdrola was a sponsor of 2007 challenger
Desafío Español. Followups at El Mundo suggest that the company's interest
is actually directed elsewhere and any America's Cup speculation was premature.
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Officially Declined
Unnamed Team Declined
A Notice from an unnamed entry was submitted before the March 31
deadline, and announced as one of 15 prospective entries (14 challengers plus
the Defender's representative) for the 2013 America's Cup pending confirmation
of their entry, but the challenge was eventually declined by Golden Gate YC
after further evaluation according to Iain Murray, America's Cup Regatta
Director, speaking to
Sail-World in early May. Murray did not reveal the reason for this
decision by the Defender. Presumably some aspect of the entry did not
comply with terms of the Protocol for the 34th Defense of the America's Cup or
the Deed of Gift. If the rejected team has an objection to GGYC's
decision, they can appeal to the America's Cup Jury, per Protocol Article 15.4
(g). It has not been confirmed whether the declined team was a potential
challenger or was ADM, cited above.
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Officially Withdrawn:
Post-2007 Teams
Azzurra
| YC Costa Smerelda ITA
With Francesco Bruni helming and Tommaso Chieffi as Tactician, this Italian team
looked tough and competitive in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas, taking first
place in Nice, and third place in Auckland. They decided, though, not to
compete in the 2013 America's Cup. Team Statement: Riccardo Bonadeo,
President of Consorzio Azzurra and Commodore of Yacht Club Costa Smeralda: "Consorzio
Azzurra is currently assessing the most viable strategy to ensure the continued
growth and development of the team following the re-launch of the historic brand
and our successful participation in the Louis Vuitton Trophy events of 2009 and
2010. While a range of international races and circuits are under
examination, at the moment it would be difficult to foresee the [Yacht Club
Costa Smeralda] participating in the 34th America’s Cup. Together with the
rest of the international sailing community, we sincerely hope that the new
protocol will lead to a fair, innovative and successful edition of the event."
Team Site
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top
Argo Challenge
Christian Giannini, Argo Executive Director, disclosed to
Scuttlebutt Sailing
on May 4, 2011, that Argo would not be a challenger for the 2013 America's Cup.
Argo was still seeking to create an affiliation with the event in another
manner, though nothing official was announced. This team initially emerged
as the 2007 America's Cup was ending, having purchased the 12-meter yacht
"French Kiss" (12 F-7), and beginning to assemble a team including disabled
sailors. In fall 2010 they re-affirmed their intent to challenge, this
time in multi-hulls. The team attended the 2013 America's Cup challenger
forums in Paris and Dubai in the fall of 2010, and said that they intended to
pursue a challenge for 2013. Skipper is Lars
Grael, two-time Olympic medalist and world champion, and brother of
sailor Torben Grael; Antonio Spinelli is president of Argo Challenge.
Helmsman Karol Jablonski (Desafío Español, 2007) joined Argo on Feb 24.
Other staff include Ashley Tobin and Mark Hillman. Read
Press Release announcing 2013
Challenge. Argo has support from
IFDS, the International
Federation for Disabled Sailing. In Janaury, 2011, Argo
reported that they were scouting San Francisco and working to sign sponsors.
Also, see Team
Video and Team
Site and read Press release from
2008 regarding Argo at the Rolex Maxi Challenge and the Paralympics.
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TeamOrigin |
Royal Thames Yacht Club
GBR
This team debuted on the America's Cup landscape just before the 2007 America's
Cup Match took place, and despite never having raced at that point, was an early
bet to become Challenger of Record when the Swiss beat ETNZ in late June and
July. Alinghi instead chose a compliant local Spanish team as their
Challenger of Record, running afoul of the requirements of the Deed of Gift.
Sir Keith Mills, Origin's leader, spent much of the next three years supporting
the Defender's position, dismissing complaints of an unfair rules protocol that
had most of the existing America's Cup teams inflamed, and saying that he would
have signed the same agreement the Spanish did since his priorities were on the
commercial opportunities. Origin purchased one of Alinghi's former ACC
yachts (SUI-75, their second 2003 boat which had been converted by Alinghi to
the latest version of the class rule) for training and development, and signed
several top British sailors to form the nucleus of their America's Cup
challenge, including Ben Ainslie as skipper. In May, 2010, Origin picked
up Grant Simmer from Alinghi, where he had been Managing Director and Design
Coordinator, to become the British CEO replacing Mike Sanderson.
Read Simmer Signing
Announcement
Origin was a competitor in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in February 2009
and its follow-on, the Louis Vuitton Trophy Series held in 2009 and 2010.
In late July, 2010, they announced a sponsorship agreement had been signed with
Jaguar. As recently as August, 2010, TeamOrigin hosted BMW Oracle Racing
in the 1851 Cup, sailing around the Isle of Wight to honor the original yacht
squadron event that set the America's Cup in motion. Outside of the
America's Cup and LVT realm, the team competed in the Audi MedCup series, and
raced in Valencia at the Trofeo Desafío Español which was advertised as the
annual regatta of the Spanish yacht club formed to play the role of Challenger
of Record for Alinghi. Origin's name was chosen as an allusion to the
British heritage of the America's Cup, not just in the respect of England being
the site of the first race for the trophy in 1851 (before it even became
America's Cup), but also recalling that the RTYC was history's very first
challenger in 1870.
However, on October 1, 2010, Team Origin announced that they would not enter
the coming America's Cup. Mills cited doubts about the commercial
prospects for the team. Not mentioned, though likely, contributing factors
appear to be the conflict between Ben Ainslie's campaign for the 2012 London
Olympic Games and the demands of a 2013 America's Cup match, and perhaps just as
critically the lure of the Olympics for potential British sponsors of sailing.
The expected learning curve for multihulls, given the team's largely monohull-centered
expertise, may have played a role, too, though it was also revealed in late
October at Voiles et Voilers that an intended partner withdrew a €50 million
sponsorship the day of the withdrawl announcement. Team Site (unavailable)
Despite the Olympic commitments for Ainslie and other crew, in early January
2012, an announcement January 10 from Ben Ainslie
Racing confirmed he will be involved the 2013 America's Cup, and will race
his own AC45 entry in the America's Cup World Series.
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2007 and Previous
Alinghi |
SNG SUI
Officially announced that the team would not challenge on November 26, 2010,
though the news likely surprised few as various negative comments had been
floated in preceding months and former team members had noted that much staff
was no longer under contract. Alinghi's team president publicly took a
wait-and-see position in regard to the Swiss team's plans throughout most of
2010, with a decision on challenging to depend on the evolving nature of the
2013 America's Cup as arranged by the Defender and the Challenger of Record.
Alinghi did not send a representative to the October, 2010, preliminary
challenger briefing. In practical terms, major talent was let go and hired
by other teams after the team lost to BMW Oracle Racing in the 33rd America's
Cup in February, 2010. Bertarelli dismissed the idea of shifting his focus
to another major ocean event like the Volvo Ocean Race, saying he prefers
inshore racing. The team was active in 2010 on the D35 multihull circuit,
which is considering expanding from lake sailing onto the Med, and this along
with the Extreme Sailing Series looked to be their direction at least for 2011
and 2012. Notable departures: Grant Simmer, Managing Director and Design
Director, to Team Origin and later Oracle Team USA; Ed Baird, 2007 winning
helmsman, to Prada/Luna Rossa, since departed before their America's Cup racing
resumed.
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Additional Links and Info:
See Active 2013 America's Cup Teams
|
