Just one detail to go!

Here are some of the reasons why entered challengers are solidly behind a new rule for the 33rd Cup. Alinghi's design team led by (left to right) Grant Simmer, Rolf Vrolijk and Michael Richelsen, with executive-assistant Luciana Corral, have proved themselves supreme in creating the world's best ACC designs. And at November's CNEVannual regatta their last baby, SUI100(below), visibly demoralised Cup newcomers like TeamOrigin with her pace Alinghi

By the entry deadline at 17:00 on 15 December 2008 an unprecedented number of teams had entered the 33rd America's Cup, with all but one of the 32nd America's Cup challengers, plus several new teams including a syndicate from Russia. As each entry needs to undergo a process of validation, by the time we went to press a definitive final list was not yet published, but there was no shortage of opinion from both the challengers and Defender Alinghi about the progress of AC33 and the proposed new class of boats that is now being mutually developed...

Brad Butterworth – skipper, Alinghi

Seahorse: What's your reaction to the unprecedented entry for the 33rd Cup?
Brad Butterworth: I am a bit surprised that when we reopened the list so many teams signed up. As I understand it the entry qualifi- cation is the same as it was for the 32nd America's Cup and the 31st. I can see, though, that with the changes to the event such as the one-boat team and given the fact that the boat will also have more uses than just being a flat-out Cup boat this would be something of interest to owners around the world who would want to have a go. I think it's great.

SH: How does this challenger field compare to previous events?
BB: A lot more teams have entered. In Auckland we had 13 teams, I think, and in Valencia we had much the same, so there is always a lot of interest; everyone has a dream about sailing in the Cup and winning it, but obviously getting to the startline is a different matter. Putting aside the number of repeat entries, it is encouraging to see new yacht clubs and new teams forming from Farr 40 or other sailing programmes and from other areas of the sport.

SH: Have the measures to accommodate the economic times helped to boost the entry?
BB: The one-boat per team concept and the will to try to curb costs is obviously encouraging teams to look at entering. The shorter turnaround is another reason why it'll be less expensive; in the past it has been three or four years and that has meant a long time between drinks for everybody, not just for the competitors trying to win the event, but the sponsors and the owners who until now have been subsidising the teams. This way, you get a Cup every two years which will be good for everybody.

When I started I think it used to cost about $NZ35 million to challenge with a two-boat programme out of New Zealand in 1995. That amount today would get you a good programme with a chance, which would certainly not have been the case previously. We'll see great benefits by changing to one-boat campaigns and thus lessening the size of the teams. It'll make for better racing as you'll get to race other, different types of teams in large numbers; it'll be fun for everyone.

SH: But there are critics out there claiming a majority of paper yacht clubs...

BB: There is a whole raft of established yacht clubs that have challenged, some of whom have won the Cup before, so they are definitely out of that category. I think it is encouraging to see new challengers in the fleet. It is a window on what the world is now; in our digital age there are new yacht clubs, they don't have to be 100 years old to enter the America's Cup! There are guys out there all round the world on lakes, inlets or wherever else, who love the sport of sailing. It's good to see that the Cup is accessible to them and it'll make for a better competition in the future.

SH: What has been agreed upon in terms of racing for 2009?
BB: We have all committed to three ACC Version 5.0 events next year regardless of the BMW Oracle lawsuit; two pre-regattas, one in July and the other in October organised by AC Management, and a further event in November during the Club Náutico Español de Vela annual regatta. We have to move on and organise a Cup in 2010 and this is part of it, so, yes, we are committed to these.

SH: What is the situation regarding dates and venue?
BB: Our best chance to keep the costs down and to get some certainty is to push on and have the Match in 2010 with one new boat; we will also have the pre-regattas in 2009 in the Version 5.0s. This is what we are working to achieve along with the entered teams in the current ongoing discussions with the Spanish public administrations.

SH: How is the Alinghi sailing team now training towards a match?
BB: We plan to do some more match-racing regattas and also the multihull events on the lake with the D35, plus the Cup sailing. We are hoping we might be able to encourage the other teams to sail the Version 5.0 boats in Valencia a couple of extra times next year to keep everybody's skills up and honed, so that the racing is of a high quality.

SH: Are more competitor meetings scheduled?
BB: This process is an ongoing commitment with the challengers to sort out the event, so we are planning to have some informal meetings; I think we are getting together in Valencia around 12 January. But probably the next formal meeting will be after everyone gets back to Europe in February or early March.

COMING TOGETHER!

The challenger panel

Desafío Español (ESP) – Challenger of Record: 'The competitor meetings in Geneva are extremely fruitful. They show the union of the 33rd AC teams with the common objective of creating a fair and sporting competition but at the same time adapting ourselves to the current economic situation.'

Marc Pajot Team French Spirit (FRA): 'Never before has the America's Cup had such a number of teams interested in participating. This is a sign that the multi-challenge event is the right way to go. As a sportsman I cannot understand that someone wants to reach the final through the ordinary courts.'

Ben Ainslie TeamOrigin (GBR): 'We have been working extremely hard with Alinghi and the other challengers over the past few months to redraft the Protocol for the 33rd America's Cup, taking into account the 10 points raised by BMW Oracle during this disagreement. We would strongly urge them to join the other teams at the table and contribute towards making the 33rd America's Cup better than ever. Let's make 2009 the year that the Cup gets back on track and the year we all work together to reignite people's interest in this world-class showcase sporting event.'

Sir Keith Mills TeamOrigin (GBR): 'We have consistently reached out to BMW Oracle and encouraged them to participate in this process. I have personally spoken to Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts a number of times and explained to them that we have made huge progress on the Protocol and that they should drop their lawsuit and challenge. I don't think any one team can hold a gun to the rest of the challengers' heads and that is really what we have had for the past 18 months.'

DESIGN UPDATE

– Grant Simmer, Alinghi design team co-ordinator The new America's Cup class rule is now going to be published by the end of January 2009.

The boats won't be very much bigger than the Version 5.0 boats and we are currently debating how to quantify length either to allow overhangs or to employ a simple box rule (like the AC90 or the TP52) with only an overall length restriction. Unlike the AC90 the new boat will not have a lifting keel and we're talking a lot about the sailplan, but haven't finalised that yet.

But it will be an impressive boat, much more modern than the AC Version 5.0 boat, though nowhere near as expensive as the AC90 was going to be! The latter was massive in terms of righting moment and that is what drives cost; this new class is really a modernised Version 5.0 boat.

We want a race yacht that is a lot quicker downwind and similar upwind to the V5. It's also desirable that the boat be relevant to a wider range of competitions than the old ACC type, which would help teams to spread out the cost and encourage in even more competitors.

In terms of progress, we are having another meeting this month and a further one mid-January; these meetings are managed by Tom Schnackenberg. It is fun to work with the other design teams prior to the start of competition; there is a lot of communication among the people who want to participate. ETNZ and TeamOrigin have been doing a heck of a lot of work together with Alinghi and Desafío.

As I said, we hope to have the rule finished by the end of January. Much more than this I cannot say as we have all agreed on confidentiality until we get it issued.