Rogge
suggests reforms for the next Cup (12/13/02) (source
: NY
Times)
As a three-time sailing Olympian, Jacques Rogge
had an invitation to climb aboard the Swiss yacht
Alinghi during its semifinal race today, taking on
the role of 17th man against Oracle.
But like everyone else at the semifinals of the America's
Cup challenger series, Rogge, the president of the
International Olympic Committee, never left shore.
Gusting winds postponed the competition and left Rogge
feeling the frustration of many competitors.
"I understand the constraints put on themselves by
the challengers, who want to have a wind range that
would be closest to the February one," Rogge said,
alluding to the expected weather for the America's
Cup final in two months. "Nevertheless, it's a pity
to see these splendid boats can't sail in a 25-knot
breeze."
Rogge's passion and interest in the sport led him
to suggest radical changes at a candid news conference.
With legal maneuverings, accusations of stolen design
secrets and sailors ditching their homelands for more
money dominating much of the news coverage of the
America's Cup, Rogge recommended an overhaul of its
system.
"I think the America's Cup needs an independent, neutral
body that rules the organization," he said. "Today
we are in an ambivalent situation where the defender
tries to accumulate as many rights as possible, where
the challengers try to team up against the defender,
and I think you need an independent body that would
decide on format, on the dates, decide on the boats."
As it stands, the deed of gift, written in 1887 by
George Schuyler of the New York Yacht Club, is amended
every few years before the next America's Cup. The
protocol wrangled over and eventually agreed to by
the competitors — including boat designs, wind readings
for competition and the nationalities of sailors competing
for a foreign syndicate — is, in effect, the only
law governing the competition.
One of Rogge's main complaints was the defender rule,
which essentially guarantees that the next competition
will be held in the country that wins the Cup in February.
Team New Zealand, the defending champion, is guaranteed
a berth in the finals without having to compete in
any of the challenger series.
"Not to know today when the America's Cup will be
or where it will be held is not something you would
see in other sports organizations, because there the
calendar is set for a long time," he said. "For the
sport itself, it's maybe not that important. But for
sponsorship, for TV audience, to spread the popularity
of yachting to the world, it is vital to know where
to go and when to go."
"The other thing that I think would be welcome would
be to have a system where races wouldn't be postponed
or abandoned in winds that are considered a medium
breeze."
Designers
rule out radical changes to AC class (11/22/02) (Source
: NZ
Herald)
At a media conference yesterday, many of the
designers, including Bruce Nelson, Laurie Davidson
and Phil Kaiko (OneWorld Challenge), Mani Frers (Victory
Challenge), Mickey Ickert and Bruce Farr (Oracle BMW),
and Rolf Vrolijk (Alinghi Challenge), are in no rush
to call for radical changes to the America's Cup boats.
Prada sent apologies – they were still out on the
water deciding which boat to race tomorrow.
The consensus among the seven who have put their reputations
on the line in the Louis Vuitton series is that there
is no need for change, although there was a call for
boats to be lighter and, therefore, more manoeuvrable.
The America's Cup-class yachts, which took over from
the 12m class which reached its use-by-date after
the 1987 cup in Fremantle, are likely to be around
for some time.
"I don't think that the rule [which governs the design
for America's Cup boats] has reached the end of its
life," Farr said. "It is a good rule which does a
good job".
"It would be nice, however, to see the boats made
lighter. It is difficult to sail boats which have
such big blobs of lead on the bottom of the boat [keel].
Bruce Nelson, with Davidson and Phil Kaiko, part of
the three-man OneWorld design team, said he would
like to see the boats "a bit lighter."
But, he reminded everyone, any change to the class
of boat had to be instigated by the defenders. "The
defenders control the rules. Unless the defender wants
to change, there won't be changes," Nelson said.
Mani Frers, of Sweden's Victory Challenge, said :
"The rule is a solid part of the cup."
Davidson admitted there had been changes, the most
apparent being the reduction in the beam, an obvious
reference to Team Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes,
which is by a significant margin the narrowest of
all those in the regatta.
"But," asked Davidson, "how narrow is too narrow?"
While declining to join the challenging designers
on stage, Team New Zealand's Tom Schnackenberg said
he had not realised the defender had the right to
make the rules regarding the class of yachts to be
sailed.
"I agree there are a lot of issues to be considered
before making any change," he said. "Any decision
would need to involve everybody, not just the designers.
But whether any change would come in time for the
next cup is problematic. Maybe you would have to look
two or even three cups ahead before considering any
changes."
Asked whether there was "anything new to come in terms
of design", Farr said. "There are some things to look
at next time. Certainly, we have not had enough time
this time to do everything well."
Davidson, asked to compare conditions in San Diego
and Auckland in terms of design needs, said : "They
could not be more different. San Diego was pretty
predictable; Auckland very unpredictable."
You will see in the future that our boat will be different."
Schnackenberg said "about four or five" of the boats
around the Viaduct Basin were close to Team New Zealand's
black boats for this campaign, but Oracle and Stars
and Stripes were "quite different".
Jim
Pugh thinks it's time to re-do the IACC rule (10/04/02) (Source
: yachtracing.com)
Like Bruno Troublé before, Jim Pugh (He
and John Reichel created Team Dennis Conner's two
new boats) thinks it's time to re-do the IACC rule
for the next America's Cup.
"Maybe some of the class parameters need to be changed
to define a bit of a different boat," he says. "These
boats are dated, anyway. The wind for the limits was
developed for San Diego, where very rarely you would
get that much breeze. Now we're in a windy venue with
similar or lower wind limits. It's kind of crazy."
In other words, they're still building boats to the
edge for San Diego, not the Hauraki Gulf.
Bruno
Troublé gives his vision (09/22/02) (Source
: Alinghi)
Bruno Troublé is one of the key figures in the
America’s Cup. Founder of the Louis Vuitton Cup, helmsman
of the French yachts in 1977, 1980 and 1983, he also
took part in the Olympic Games in Mexico and Montreal.
Nowadays, Bruno Troublé is better known for the style
and method with which he manages the Louis Vuitton
Cup – a skilful mixture of authoritarianism and charm.
Bernard Schopfer : Lots of people are saying that
this Louis Vuitton Cup will be the finest, the most
closely-fought etc… Is this marketing tactics or a
reality ?
Bruno Troublé : I sincerely believe that this will
indeed be a fabulous edition, as the homogeneity between
the Challengers is impressive. From a historical point
of view, the Challengers series have always been dominated
by one team. Il Moro in 1992, Team New Zealand in
1995, Prada in 2000. This time however, I think there
will be very little difference between the yachts.
BS: How does this edition differ to the earlier ones?
BT : The organisation of the Challengers Cup has always
been dominated by the weaker teams who were in the
majority. This time however, six of the nine teams
consider themselves as being « heavyweights ». They
have set up a quick knock-out system. This means that
the first boat will be eliminated after a month of
racing, leaving just four boats to go through to the
semi-finals, whereas six boats remained at that stage
in the last competition.
BS: Halsey Street, the syndicate’s road, is going
to be flooded with tears…
BT : Yes, no doubt it will. It’s a draconian system.
But you must not lose sight that the aim behind the
Louis Vuitton Cup is to find the best Challenger.
The competitors considered that this was the best
way to go about it.
BS: Do you think that the America’s Cup has great
potential for development?
BT : There is a 30growth with each successive edition.
But if the Cup was to come to Europe – which I dream
of seeing happen – the event will cross over into
a new domain.
BS: What do you mean by that?
BT : I mean that it will be a great development from
a sport and media point of view, with an increased
level of professionalism.
BS: In concrete terms ?
BT : As intended by the rules, the next Defender will
be a major force. That team will make decisions as
to where, when and on what type of boat. I hope that
the team concerned will make the right decisions and
that the next edition will be better organised.
BS: Oh, really?
BT : The rules of this year’s competition were adopted
very quickly and without forethought. As a result,
the Cup is suffering already - even before the first
race has been run - from polemical debates due to
a lack of professionalism and organisation. It is
one of this event’s underlying fundamental problems.
The crews are more professional than those organising
the race.
BS: How can this be avoided ?
BT : The Protocol needs to be revised from top to
bottom to simplify the whole event. In particular,
I believe that the nationality rule is absurd. Other
rules need to be looked at too. Here’s an example:
we’ll lose 1/3 of the racing days available through
bad weather as the rules prohibit any racing when
there’s a wind of more than 22 knots. That too is
absurd. For the public, television, partners….
BS: It is often bandied about that the Cup is the
world’s third most important sports event in terms
of media coverage. How does that translate in real
terms ?
BT : It’s true to say that the Cup is less visible
than football or Formal 1 car racing. On the other
hand, the event lasts for quite some time and the
accumulation of media coverage really does make it
the 3rd most important sports event in the world.
It is a fantastic spectacle for television. Just to
give you an idea, production costs run to 190.000
dollars a day !
BS: Do you also think that the format needs to be
changed ?
BT : I do. A more spectacular format is needed. I
would love to see 35 metres long yachts with a crew
of fifteen, racing without any restriction on wind
! The America’s Cup has to present the finest racing
yachts imaginable. It must be at the leading edge
of technology and media coverage.
The new design class issue was briefly touched
on by Clay Oliver, Team NZ principal designer, in
an interview on NZ Radio.
One listener asked if the class rule was likely to
be altered after the 2003 AC. Clay Oliver’s response
was positive.
"This time we’re actually trying to organise
as a group among all the challengers and the defender
people that are interested in it, he said. "A
group of people that would, as a group, come up with
any modifications to the class. So we’re going to
take a look at that. It’s always a difficult thing
because if you change the boat too much it makes older
boats a little bit obsolete. So it’s a fine line we
have to walk. But there are going to be some changes
I think".
