During the three-day session in Valencia, AC
Management has been in discussions with 18 America’s
Cup Teams, representing nine countries.
The "officials" first :
-
Alinghi
(SUI), defender ;
-
Oracle BMW Racing
(USA), challenger of Record ;
-
Clan des Team (ITA),
the first to join Oracle in challenging.
Several "prospective" challengers :
-
Team
New Zealand (NZL), which are close to their
budget, with a Middle East airline tipped as
title sponsor ;
-
three French (le
Défi, K-Challenge et Team France) ;
-
four others Italians
(Luna Rossa Challenge, Mascalzone Latino, Toscana
Challenge and a new Italia Challenge represented
by Paolo Scutellaro and its skipper Paolo Cian)
;
-
GBR
Challenge (GBR) ;
-
El Reto Challenge
(ESP) ;
-
Victory Challenge
(SWE) ;
-
Ozboyz
Challenge (AUS).
Three teams remain to be disclosed and four were not
there (three groups which stayed away to remain incognito
- from south-east Asia, Germany/Poland and the United
States - and the recently unveiled South Africans).
AC
team meeting conclude in Valencia
(04/07/04) (source
: AC
Management)
18 America’s Cup Teams concluded a three-day
session of organisational meetings in Valencia, Spain,
on Wednesday, with a clear vision of how the 32nd
America’s Cup would proceed.
Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management, the organiser
of the 32nd America’s Cup, closed the three-day workshop
of meetings with the observation that America’s Cup
racing would begin on the 5th September, 2004.
"The exciting milestone today is that we are
now less than five months away from the Marseille
Louis Vuitton Act 1 of the 32nd America’s Cup",
Bonnefous said. "It is tremendous to think that
there will be America’s Cup racing in such a short
time."
For the past three days, AC Management has been in
discussions with 18 America’s Cup Teams, representing
nine countries, about a variety of topics relating
to the sport, marketing, and logistical aspects of
the 32nd America’s Cup.
"We wanted to take this opportunity to give the
Teams preparing for the 32nd America’s Cup an update
on the progress achieved so far, and an overview on
what the 32nd America’s Cup will look like,"
Bonnefous explained. "Of equal importance, we
wanted to open a dialogue with the Teams, to listen
to their input, and to collect feedback from them,
our most important stakeholders."
Bonnefous was joined at the press conference by José
Salinas, the CEO of Valencia 2007, and Dyer Jones,
the Regatta Director of the 32nd America’s Cup, along
with the Defender, Alinghi, and the two official Challengers,
Oracle BMW Racing and the Clan Des Team.
Salinas explained the massive transformation scheduled
for the Port of Valencia, in order to prepare for
the America’s Cup. Work will begin shortly, and the
Port will be ready to accommodate Teams as of the
Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts in October. Team bases
will be available for occupation from Spring 2005.
"All of the services related to relocation, immigration,
work permits, taxes, etc. have been outlined and detailed
to the Teams present," Salinas said. "Valencia
2007 and ACM will continue working hand in hand to
develop the best possible infrastructure for the 32nd
America’s Cup."
Regatta Director Dyer Jones spoke about the sports
programme for 2004 and beyond, and gave details about
the Meteorological Data System (MDS) a shared weather
data system that will make the weather over a small
portion of the Mediterranean Sea the most analysed
‘microclimate’ in the world.
"The MDS programme is a tremendous step forward
for the Teams, and will result in really significant
cost savings for them", Jones explained. "In
the past, many teams would each spend well over €1.5-million
to obtain essentially the same data".
"We will soon begin the process of gathering
and then distributing to the participants meteorological
data so that over the coming months and years each
team will have a huge amount of analytical data from
which to make decisions regarding the designs of their
boats and the conditions under which they will be
sailing."
This consolidated weather data programme was just
one of many initiatives discussed at the Teams meetings
this week at the Palacio de Congresos in Valencia.
"On behalf of ACM, I would like to publicly thank
all of the Teams along with our partners, Louis Vuitton
and Endesa, for their energy, their input and their
enthusiasm for what we are trying to accomplish,"
Bonnefous concluded. "We know that the 32nd America’s
Cup is a partnership that cannot succeed without them".
Racing begins in the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act on
the 5th of September.
America's
Cup Press Conference in Valencia
(04/01/04) (source
: AC
Management)
At the conclusion of the Team Meetings for the
Defender, Challengers, and Potential Challengers for
the 32nd America's Cup taking place in Valencia, Spain,
over the 5th to 7th of April, AC Management and Valencia
2007, will host a press conference.
Representatives from 19 teams, including the Defender,
Alinghi, the Challenger of Record, Oracle BMW Racing,
and the first other challenger to date, the Clan Des
Team, will have just concluded three days of meetings
in the Host City of the 32nd America's Cup.
On Monday, 5th April, the Team Meetings will begin
at noon with a detailed visit of the Port of Valencia
before Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management
and José Salinas, General Manager of Valencia 2007,
will deliver their keynote speeches to open the working
sessions.
The agenda for Tuesday and Wednesday will occupy the
Teams with closed-door, working meetings on a variety
of topics relating to the sport, marketing, and logistical
aspects of the 32nd America's Cup.
The conclusion of the Team Meetings on Wednesday afternoon
is a perfect opportunity to update the media and exchange
information on the running of the 32nd America's Cup.
Michel Bonnefous, AC Management, José Salinas, Valencia
2007, and Dyer Jones, the America's Cup Regatta Director,
will be available for comment. Additionally, representatives
from several Teams will also be present.
2004
Racing calendar revealed in Paris
(03/26/04) (source
: AC
Management)
The first three Acts in the four-year story
of the 32nd America’s Cup will take place during
September and October, 2004, with three regattas
to be sailed at two different venues.
Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management, organiser
for the America’s Cup, made the announcement on
the occasion of a gala dinner hosted in Paris by
Louis Vuitton.
Hosting the evening was Yves Carcelle, President
of Louis Vuitton, and present among his guests were,
Francisco Camps Ortiz, Presidente de la Generalitat
Valenciana, Rita Barbera, Mayoress of Valencia,
and France Gamerre, Adjoint Mayor of Marseille.
"The first three Acts of the 32nd America’s
Cup will take place in 2004, several more in 2005
and 2006," Bonnefous explained. "The climax
of any play comes with the final Act, and in 2007,
we will bring you the Louis Vuitton Cup and the
America’s Cup Match, the denouement of our story".
"But back to 2004, with Act 1 in Marseille,
and Acts 2 and 3 in Valencia - we are sure the first
scenes in this play will be full of characters and
emotion, action, drama, and intrigue, setting the
scene for what is to come later on,” Bonnefous concluded".
The 2004 Sports Programme
for the 32nd America’s Cup :
5th/11th September (Marseille) : Louis Vuitton Act
1 of the 32nd America’s Cup (Fleet and Match Racing)
5th/12th October (Valencia) : Louis Vuitton Act
2 of the 32nd America’s Cup (Match Racing)
14th/17th October (Valencia) : Louis Vuitton Act
3 of the 32nd America’s Cup (Fleet Racing)
Twenty
six syndicates in Valencia (03/17/04) (source
: Las
Provincias)
On April 8th, no less than 26 applicants will
be in the "Palau de Congresos" of Valencia for the
first meeting of interested teams for the 32nd Defense.
During the meeting, ACM will release details about
the marketing plan for the event, the services that
will be provided to the teams, and the challenger
bases to be located in the new AC Village, " El Bacon
de Mar ".
The validity of any of these teams must be relativized
(an "interested team" doesn't necessarily become a
competitor), but this figure is in itself a good surprise.
It's also a real success for ACM which has to be linked
with the signing of an amended protocol and the publication
of the Terms of Challenge.
As Michel Bonnefous underlined in January, with these
two fundamental documents, the organizers of the 32nd
America's Cup " are providing strong support to all
teams in a number of significant areas ".
In spite of Chris Dickson has said that $100 million
is a "realistic" budget for 2007, smallest budgets
seem now possible with this new documents (€ 30/40
million).
The challenge deadline is 17 December 2004. Challengers
will be accepted after that date until 29 April, 2005
if accompanied by a late fee.
The
Pre-Regatta
will be revealed
on March 25th (14/03/04) (source
: Le
Défi)
The main part of the Cup Info's report about
the ACM meeting in Paris (see below) is now confirmed,
but the meeting is scheduled on March 25th.
The organizer of the 32nd America’s Cup will reveal
the details of the three 2004 events, in particular
the dates and the selected cities.
According to the latest rumours, the three cities
should be (in this order) : Marseille, Lisbon and
Valencia.
According to the French newspaper La Provence,
a meeting was held today in Marseille beetween AC
Management and France Gamerre, the City delegate
to the maritime businesses.
The object of the meeting was to examine and discuss
the organisation of the first America's
Cup pre-regatta which was supposed to be organized
at the beginning of September.
"Six or seven Class America are announced", concluded
the report. A worrying number when one remembers
the Swiss' initial ambitions.
The organizer of the 32nd America’s Cup, AC Management,
has been working in Valencia to establish the 2004
racing schedule and the dates for meetings to be held
in Valencia with the new teams.
ACM will inform the teams and the public March 16th
of the selected cities for the "Pre-Regattas" to be
held this fall. Valencia, host of the next defense
in 2007, has already been named as one site, and target
dates for all three events released (September 5-12,
September 25-October 3, and October 17-23), but the
two remaining locations were still being determined.
The announcement will be made at Louis Vuitton Museum
in Paris, where ACM is expected to reveal the details
of the three 2004 events.
This official announcement should provide several
surprises. Valencia’s pre-regatta, which had been
tentatively planned (although officially unconfirmed)
for September 5-12, will likely exchange the dates
for one of the two later slots on the fall schedule.
The goal of this shuffling is to avoid the "Gota Fria",
the heavy seasonal rains that typically happen in
autumn in Valencia.
At present, the other two cities chosen to hold the
2004 Pre-Regattas are not known, though it is supposed
by some in Valencia that one will be in the north
of Europe and one in the south. It is also believed
that one of the cities could be a venue passed over
by ACM’s selection of Valencia for the America’s Cup
match.
David Gallego, Director of Institutional Relations
for ACM in Spain, said the Cup's organizers have spoken
with 24 possible challenger candidates regarding participation
in the 2007 Cup, but no more than the half of these
teams will likely take part.
According to Gallego, ACM is going to work on other
encouraging participation from other markets, including
the Middle-East and Asia. Team registration is open
until April 2005.
The first meeting of interested teams for the 32nd
Defense will take place April 5-8. At that time, ACM
will release details about the challenger bases located
in the 'Balcón del Mar’, the marketing strategy for
the event, and the services that will be provided
to the teams.
