The new holders of the America's Cup celebrate
As a keen sailor, I’m still feeling jaded about last month’s America’s Cup contest. Sure I was stunned by the staggering speed of the yachts which were the fastest ever in 159-year history of the Cup, but as a world-class event it sucked.
A 2 and 1/2 year legal battle over rules between the American challengers and the Swiss holders cancelled a 19-team qualifying event, scared off sponsors Santander, UBS and Nestle and shrank the organising budget to 8 million euros from a record 230 million euros at the last Cup in 2007.
International interest declined so much that organisers gave away the television rights, according to officials in the Swiss team. Their captain summed it up when he said that this event was 95% legal and 5% sailing.
I was at the America’s Cup in Auckland in 2003 so I’ve witnessed at first hand the excitement, international interest and commercial boom time that this event creates. Then there were 9 challenging teams and the contest lasted 4 months. This time it was just down to 2 races for 2 boats.
The America’s Cup is ‘the’ event in yacht racing and one of the four or five biggest sporting events. It puts yachting on the sporting map and attracts attention from around the globe.
The BMW Oracle Racing team took the Cup back to America for the first time in 18 years. Let’s hope they make the most of the opportunity to have the contest back on home soil and give the yachting world back the event we expect.
Reference: Business Week
Photo: Eduardo Ripoll/33rd America’s Cup
