John
Kostecki still hopes to be in Auckland
(04/17/02) (source
: sport.telegraph.co.uk)
Although illbruck's America's Cup ambitions have
ended, according to a story by Tim Jeffery in the UK's
Daily Telegraph, John Kostecki will be at the big show
anyway.
John Kostecki still hopes to hop from the Volvo straight
into the Cup and has received both racing and management
offers from other teams. Declared a German crew and
designer under the Cup's nationality rules, Kostecki
is taking advice to see if he can race for another team.
"One way or another, I intend to be in Auckland," the
American said.
Illbruck
confirms withdrawal from the Cup
(04/16/02) (source
: NZ
Herald )
The illbruck Challenge, a professional sailing
team which currently leads the Volvo Ocean Race, indicated
in mid March that it was putting its America's Cup preparations
on hold as it searched for financial backers.
Today the Duesseldorf Yacht Club, under whose burgee
illbruck sails, notified the Challenger of Record Committee
and Defender Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron that it
would not participate in the challenger series which
starts later this year.
Despite intensive efforts to find a corporate sponsor,
a commercial partner has not been found to finance the
campaign, said Michael Illbruck, 42, CEO of the international
company illbruck GmbH and Chairman of the illbruck Challenge.
"While it's disappointing that we cannot keep the team
together for the next America's Cup, we hope to find
a long-term solution to challenge again some time in
the future."
First time since the failure of the campaign,
Yacht.de interviewed Michael Illbruck, former Founder
and Chairman of the German Challenge.
"I am responsible. I have bungled it," confessed
the very self-critical German businessman. "At
the beginning, ours demands have been too high and
we didn't want to go off from the green boat color
and from the Illbruck stroke. Now, it's appeared like
an unrealistic marketing package."
In addition, the marketing agency have instructed
wrong discussions with the sponsor. " We have demanded
year budgets which are laying around four to five
higher than what we would have needed, " explained
Michael Illbruck who is still considering the 2006
America's Cup.
He wants to draw up a Team in the McLaren-Mercedes'
style. " We supply the know-how, we offer the boat
as a media platform but illbruck doesn't give any
money. "
For 2002/2003, Peter Montgomery interviewed Dyer
Jones, member of the New York Yacht Club and Regatta
Director of the Louis Vuitton Cup, who explained that
the Germans are still registered and that the LVC
still have ten challengers and not nine.
"The illbruck team, as you know, is very focussed
at the moment on winning the Volvo race (which they
are) and they have announced that their plans for
the America’s Cup are on hold depending on whether
they can find additional funding. However the challenging
yacht club, which the illbruck team represents is
the Dusseldorf Yacht Club of Germany and they still
have a valid challenge. So we’re still counting them
in and we’re still planning on ten teams.”
Bad
news from Germany (03/17/02) (source
: yacht.de)
After Illbruck have abandoned preparations to
compete in the America's Cup due to a lack of sponsorship,
Glenn Bourke (the Australian chief executive of the
sailing project) was seeking a last-minute lifeline
that will ensure GER-68 races in Auckland.
Glenn Bourke continues to said there is still some
hope. "Negotiations are still taking place with
various potential sponsors, either to take over the
whole campaign or to be the sole sponsors".
"We are looking for an injection of between 15 million
euros and 18 million euros($13.1 million to $15.7
million) to get up and running again."
In fact, the liquidation of the illbruck America's
Cup Challenge seems to have already begun. If work
on GER-68 has just been stopped in Bremen, the order
for the building of a carbon fiber mast was cancelled.
Indication for the end as the German Challenge even
remove the America's Cup section from his website
(illbruck-challenge.com)
?
Last
attempt to keep Illbrück on track
(03/13/02) (source
: madforsailing.com)
illbruck Challenge's chief executive
Glenn Bourke put out one last call for Germany's first
ever America's Cup campaign to be rescued from extinction.
Just arrived in Bremen, north Germany, he told madforsailing:
"We're just hoping that somebody might throw us a lifeline,
for a project that is 80 per cent completed." The project
is indeed a frustratingly long way down the track, with
the new ACC boat just three weeks away from completion.
"The hull and the deck have been put together - it looks
like an America's Cup boat," said the Australian CEO.
And yet it also looks as though that hull will never
carry the green and white livery of the illbruck Challenge.
Challenge head Michael Illbruck had originally announced
a cut-off date of 1 April for sponsorship to arrive,
but Bourke said their financial predicament made it
prudent to fold the Challenge sooner than later.
That said, Bourke still holds a 10 per cent chance of
the Challenge going forward in some form. "We're looking
to media like madforsailing to put out the call for
someone to come in and take over the Challenge. We have
quite a bit of equipment, we've got the people, we're
a pretty viable concern right now. But in two weeks'
time it won't be, people will be looking for new challenges
and the project will have lost its momentum if we don't
find something soon."
Illbruck
has stopped all cup activities (03/12/02) (source
: yacht.de)
On January, German businessman
Michael Illbruck (42) has revealed that the team was
in danger and risk to pulled the plug on Auckland challenge.
Today, he announced that his syndicate has stopped all
americas cup activities.
Michael Illbruck said the problem was raising funds
and the syndicate was not able to find enough sponsoring.
With the escalating costs of running a campaign, the
German firm illbruck has reached their borders and it's
clear that the commitment is more expensive than planned.
At the outset Illbruck said he was working on a long-term
approach to the America's Cup and was planning to make
a full entry for the 2006 Cup series. Now, it is not
known whether stopping the current America's Cup campaign
will also affect plans for participation in the 2006
Cup.
Reactions :
Bruno Troublé (Louis Vuitton) : "It is with great sadness
that we heard the news of Illbruck's withdrawal from
the Cup as we were excited to be welcoming Germany to
the Cup family for the first time in the event's history.
However we wish them all the very best for the rest
of the Volvo Ocean Race and hope that in the future
we might see a German entry in the Louis Vuitton Cup."
Mats Johansson (Victory Challenge) : "It is a pity
for the guys that have put so much time and energy in
preparing themselves for the America’s Cup that they
will not fulfil their challenge. I think that they would
have done well".
Luc Gellusseau (Le Défi Areva) : "Nothing is
clearly definite, and it is not certain that it is simple
to recover the Illbruck's base. Therefore, one is not
delighted in advance. And then with the Illbruck's withdrawal,
that reduce the number of challengers to nine ... and
that it is not good."
"We
have not yet found the money"
(03/07/02) (source
: yacht.de)
Monday, the Sport Telegraph explained that the
German Illbruck team are expected to confirm that they
have found £3 million of backing for their Volvo Ocean
Race team to switch seamlessly into an America's Cup
campaign.
Today yacht.de website talked with John Kostecki, skipper
of German's Illbruck Challenge who said "so far,
we have not found the money for the America's cup. But,
we hope to do. We have a magnificent team and an almost
finished boat. It would be very disappointing for all
in Germany and for our team if we could not participate
in the next America's cup. "
The
cup is doubtful for Illbruck
(01/31/02) (source
: yacht.de)
In an extremely disappointing scenario
Germany may well be poised to withdraw from Cup. Michael
Illbruck, the German businessman who is financing the
Illbruck Challenge for the 2003 America's Cup, has revealed
that the team is in danger and now, he risk to pulled
the plug on Auckland challenge.
When Illbruck launched the syndicate in January 2001,
he said that his Company can paid 90 % of the projected
budget. Now, with the escalating costs of running a
campaign, he said the firm illbruck has reached their
borders and it's clear that the commitment is more expensive
than planned.
Illbruck now wants a commercial backer or group of companies
to come in and help him pick up the rest of the campaign.
"Till the end of April time has given us to find
fitting partners," he said.
If not, even the new boat is being built in Bremen (the
hull is already finished), the German challenge will
not coming to Auckland and the team would be come in
2006.
