On the road for the 33rd: The end of a class!

The race against the clock has started and the press conference given July 5th in Valencia is the starting gun for the 33rd edition. On the program to start with, are the end of the America’s Cup class and the introduction of a new Class of boat, one with a 90 foot waterline, sailed by a crew of roughly 20 people. The final rule of this new class will be announced later, by the 31st of December, 2007.

“Everyone would like a new boat, larger, more thrilling, harder to sail, and faster, some thing answering their expectations,” explained Brad Butterworth, skipper for Alinghi. “We want to try and design something more exciting. These boats (America’s Cup rule Version 5) are fantastic but I think they have come to the end of their life and people are looking for something bigger and faster. The guys must be even more athletic because these boats will be more physical to sail.
On the other hand, for everything we would like to know about where and when the Cup will take place went unanswered. Michel Bonnefous, from ACM, confirmed that discussions with Valencia have started and are still going on. In the case that an agreement can be reached, the Cup will take place in 2009 in Valencia. On the other hand, if this is not the case, (the discussions essentially concern the development of the commercial port) the competition will remain in Europe and will take place in 2010 or 2011. The selection of Valencia, or another European city, will be announced at the latest, December 31st 2007. “Today, we have a natural relationship with Valencia and Spain, and obviously we are discussing a great deal in hosting again in Valencia but no agreement has been reached up to now. I imagine if we arrive at an agreement, it will take place quickly and we will be able to announce it soon. If not, we will restart the selection process – two or three months – to choose another city. We already have several cities that have shown interest in hosting the America's Cup,” declared Michel Bonnefous.

The 33rd America's Cup will be contested at the earliest in 2009 and at the latest in 2011. It will consist of a pre-regatta phase sailing in existing America’s Cup class boats and could become an elimination phase (which could have the objective of eliminating the weakest challengers at the beginning) followed by the principal event, the selection of challengers and the America’s Cup match. This agenda will be confirmed before the 31st of December 20007.


The Challenger of Record, the first challenger to issue a challenge to the holder of the Cup is Club Náutico Español de Vela, which signed the 33rd America’s Cup Protocol in agreement with the Defender Yacht Club, the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG).


To summarize, we know a fair amount yet at the same time very little. What is sure is that the first to start are in general the first to arrive. And for this 33rd, it will be true more than ever. Alinghi already has a very good head start!

Fdb/Lh – Valencia July 5th 2007