WHAT CHANGES FOR THE CUP ?


         
 Coutts admits Cayard negotiations (07/10/04)
 (source : Yachting World)
"It is true that Paul and I have been talking about doing something new", Russell Coutts said. "I am not entirely sure about what that format should be right now, but we're working through it. Once we get to a stage where we have a clearly defined thing, we will probably make that public."

The rumours are that the Kiwi/American's new international event will be an alternative to the America's Cup. But the world class sailor denies that.

"We are definitely not thinking of doing any event that would try to compete with - or that you could compare with - the America's Cup", Russell Coutts said. "If we do something, it would be entirely different. I think the America's Cup is a great event. It is moving on and has been there for 150 years. It will always be there."

Coutts intimated that a new event is not his only possibility, if the separation from Alinghi succeeds. At the moment he is considering several ideas with possibilities ranging from the Olympic Games to Volvo Ocean Race or match racing on the Swedish Match Tour.

The new situation means that the America's Cup is likely to continue without the greatest ever America's Cup skipper in history. But Coutts has no regrets.

"I have been in the Cup game for 15 years or so", Russell concluded. "And the sport is so much bigger than the America's Cup. I have been in such a narrow and defined field for such a long time - maybe it's good to change track now."
 
 Is it time for an America's Cup secession ? (07/02/04)
 (source : The Australian)
After the Tracy Edwards' Oryx Cup directly inspired by The Race, the America's Cup could come under threat from a new event being proposed by two of its best-known competitors.

New Zealander Russell Coutts and American Paul Cayard are believed to be close to finalising details for the creation of an international sailing event aimed at attracting the world's best sailors and a massive television audience.

The proposal is for the establishment of a fleet of extreme high-performance yachts built to an identical design that will compete for a major prize.

The event the pair is formulating involves fleet racing one-design yachts similar in length to the existing America's Cup yachts, about 24m (80ft). But that's where the similarity will end.

The new boats will move into the next generation of performance sailing. It is proposed that they will be created along the lines of the radical and extremely fast monohulls that race on Italy's Lake Garda. They are planned for a crew of only 10 or 12 with a significant number suspended over the side from trapeze systems to enhance stability.

In being identical one-designs, the cost of entry to this competition will be considerably less than the $100million-plus required to enter the America's Cup. And with all the hulls being the same, the racing promises to be close and exciting.

It is understood that the initial backer for Coutts and Cayard is New York-based, but it's likely the money to launch it will come from the Middle East. Financiers in both Bahrain and Dubai have been eagerly courting the pair.

If plans continue on their current course, the announcement of the event could come within the next two weeks. However, although both men have left no doubt that something is developing behind the scenes, they are keeping mum on details.

 
 "There will be no second ..." (06/15/04)
 (source : AC Management)
With the first races of the 32nd America’s Cup looming just over the horizon in September, a bold, new brand identity for the America’s Cup has been unveiled today on the official website of the Cup.

‘The Blazing Cup’ is an incarnation of the passion, the prestige, and the fascination with the duel that is at the heart of the America’s Cup. Flames, sparked from two duelling yachts at the base of the Cup spiral up along its edge, symbolising the intensity and passion of the drama that is the America’s Cup.

‘The Blazing Cup’, the brand architecture and the visual identity of the 32nd America’s Cup was created by Dragon Rouge, a European design and creative agency that was established in Paris by Pierre Cazaux and Patrick Veyssière 20 years ago.

"AC Management is very proud of the brand identity developed in collaboration with the team from Dragon Rouge. The identity developed completely captures the passion and spirit of the whole America’s Cup story, both from the past, and towards the future," said Margrethe van der Stroom Holdener, Director of Marketing and Business for AC Management. "I really think that this is the ultimate expression for the 32nd America’s Cup."

 
 Jury is appointed for the 32nd America's Cup (06/02/04)
 (source : AC Management)
AC Management announced today the Jury for the 32nd America’s Cup. As per the Protocol for the 32nd America’s Cup, the five members of the Jury have been appointed by the Société Nautique de Genève, and the Golden Gate Yacht Club (representing the Challengers Commission).

The members of the Jury are:

- Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (SUI)
- Graham McKenzie (NZL)
- Henry Menin (ISV)
- David Tillet (AUS)
- Bryan Willis (GBR), Chairman

The Jury for the 32nd America’s Cup will have broad responsibilities for dispute resolution in the areas of racing disputes normally handled by an International Jury appointed under Appendix M of the Racing Rules of Sailing, and some commercial disputes that may arise between persons or entities under the Jury's jurisdiction.

On the 29th May, 2004, the Jury issued its Rules of Procedures and it began operations effective that date.

Detailed biographies of each member of the Jury are below.

* * *

Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler is a partner with the law firm Schellenberg Wittmer in Geneva, and Professor of Private International Law, including international dispute resolution, at Geneva University Law School. She is a member of the bar of Geneva and of New York.

Professor Kaufmann-Kohler was the Chair of the Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), which included responsibility for the Olympics in Atlanta 1996, Nagano 1998, and Sydney 2000. She also chaired the CAS Ordinary Division from 1994 to 2001. She has acted as arbitrator on ad hoc sports tribunals, and advised international sports organisations on matters in connection with sports disputes and sports dispute resolution.

Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler speaks English, French, German and Spanish. She is the President of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) and a member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). She acts as arbitrator in international commercial and investment disputes, and is a member of a number of arbitration panels including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and the American Arbitration Association. She has written many publications related to sports arbitration, including a book on Arbitration at the Olympics and many other publications in the area of international arbitration and litigation as well as international contracts and electronic commerce.

Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler is a Swiss citizen living in Geneva with her husband and three children.

Graham McKenzie is a partner in the legal firm of Bell Gully in New Zealand. He obtained an LLB at Victoria University of Wellington and an LLM at Warwick University, England. He is a Notary Public. He is a corporate Barrister and Solicitor with his experience including advising a range of industry sectors including the aircraft, construction, dairy, food and technology, yachting and wine industries.

McKenzie is a director of several public companies. He is Deputy Chairman of St Kentigern Trust Board (an education trust) and a Trustee of the Bruce McLaren Trust (a charitable trust). McKenzie lives in Auckland with his wife and two children. He also has two adult children living in England and Australia. When he has the time he sails mainly around Auckland in a number of different sailboats.

Henry Menin lives with his wife Fredelle in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He formerly practiced law and now owns a business in St. Thomas. He has raced competitively in dinghies and keel-boats and has won a variety of titles. He is an ISAF ‘International Judge’ and ‘International Umpire’. He was an Umpire and member of the International Jury for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America’s Cup Match in 1999-2000, and for the Olympic Jury in Sydney 2000. Menin is a member of the ISAF International Umpires Sub-Committee, author of various ISAF Umpire-related manuals and documents, as well as co-author of a book on match racing. He was Rules adviser, coach and Umpire for Oracle BMW Racing for the 31st America’s Cup. Menin is a past Commodore of the Saint Thomas Yacht Club and an honorary member of the Long Beach Yacht Club, California. He is married with two children and two grandchildren.

David Tillett is a partner of the South Australian law firm Duncan Basheer Hannon and practices in Commercial Law. He is Chairman/Board Member of several Adelaide companies. Tillett was a member of the Olympic Jury in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000, and has been appointed Chairman of the Athens Olympic Jury 2004. He was an Umpire and Jury Member for the Louis Vuitton Cup in San Diego in 1992 and 1995, and a Jury Member for the 31st America’s Cup in Auckland in 2003. He is a Council Member of the International Sailing Federation and chairs the ISAF Racing Rules Committee. Tillett is an ex-World Dinghy Champion, with a family of two teenage children, and continues to sail competitively.

Bryan Willis has been an International Sailing Federation International Judge and International Umpire since the inception of the schemes. He has chaired the ISAF Race Officials Committee and Race Management Sub Committee and been a member of the Racing Rules Committee for 26 years. Willis is an author and editor of several books on the racing rules, protest procedures and match racing. He has served on several Olympic Juries and was Jury chairman for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He has been rules advisor for several America’s Cup syndicates (Swedish team in 1980, British ‘Victory’ team in 1983, Australian ‘Kookaburra’ Defence in 1987) and an Umpire and member of the International Jury for the America’s Cup 1992. He was Jury chairman and Chief Umpire for the previous two editions of the America’s Cup. He has four grown-up children and two grandchildren. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and a practising magistrate.

 
 El Corte Inglés partner of the America's Cup (05/30/04)
 (source : Masmar)

At the occasion of the inauguration of a new superstore in Valencia this week, the President of the Spanish group "El Corte Inglés" Isidoro Álvarez announced that his company is joining the 32nd America's Cup as an official partner.

ECI is one of the largest mixed retail groups in Europe and is by far the biggest in Spain.The Group is regarded as a Spanish institution hat ranks as the third largest company in the country.


The Group controls almost 90% of the Spanish large mixed retail market and posted sales of €13 billion for fiscal year ended February 2003, an increase of 9.4% over the previous year.

El Corte Inglés SA Department Stores is the Group's flagship and core business. The store started off as a small tailor's shop in Madrid in the 1920s, and now has 60 stores throughout Spain offering fashion and accessories, household products, sport goods and leisure and culture goods and services.

El Corte Inglés joins the two official partners Endesa and Grupo Santander and the principal partner Louis Vuitton in supporting the 32nd America's Cup.

 
 The America's Cup welcomes Grupo Satander (05/12/04)
 (source : AC Management)
At an announcement ceremony in Valencia, Spain, the Host City for the 32nd America's Cup, Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management welcomed Grupo Santander to the America's Cup.

Grupo Santander is Spain's leading bank, and the second largest financial institution in the Euro zone. Its businesses throughout Europe and Latin America employ over 100 000 people and in 2003, the group posted a Euros 2.61 billion profit.

The Group is a leader in the retail banking sector and continues to grow in all the markets in which it operates.

Grupo Santander joins official partner Endesa and Louis Vuitton, the principal partner, in supporting the 32nd America's Cup.

"As with the yacht America in 1851, we have found a way to pass our competitors," said Alfredo Sáenz, Second Vice-Chairman and CEO of Grupo Santander. "In our case, instead of navigating by the stars, we have been guided by four values. Dynamism, strength, innovation, and leadership are our corporate values and I think they are also the common values of the America's Cup."

Grupo Santander will also enjoy a significant birthday in 2007. It was in 1857 when the Banco Santander was first incorporated in Spain. Grupo Santander will thus be celebrating its 150th Jubilee during the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia.
 
 A new partner for AC Management (05/08/04)
 (source : AC Management)
AC Management, the event organiser for the 32nd America's Cup, will host a press conference in Valencia on Wednesday, 12th May, 2004 to announce the appointment of a new Official Partner of the America's Cup.

"This new partner is an international company, considered a leader in its field", AC M said. "As a dynamic, strong and innovative company it shares many values with the America's Cup".

Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management will be joined by Rita Barberá, Mayoress of Valencia in welcoming the new partner.