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Candidate
City announcement (06/05/03)
(source :
AC
Management)
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In
the process to find the host city of the 32nd America's
Cup, eight European cities were retained for further
consideration in March this year.
At that time the eight have each supplied further
technical information to facilitate AC Management's
goal to find the best possible venue for the world's
oldest sporting trophy. In particular, detailed questions
were asked about the meteorology, facilities and infrastructure.
AC Management is delighted by the energy, motivation
and commitment shown by the eight cities and decided
early in the process to adapt its timetable to work
closely with the candidates before making its choice.
AC Management will announce the shortlist of European
cities by Press Release on Thursday 12 June 2003 by
noon CET. |
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Russell
Coutts votes for Naples (05/25/03)
(source :
Yahoo.it)
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Russell
Coutts, skipper of the victorious Swiss team Alinghi
in the America's Cup, said Naples is his favourite
to host the next event.
"Naples can dream. The Gulf is indeed exceptional
and Bagnoli is a worthy place for the America' s
Cup", the skipper said. "If it depended
on me I would carry the Cup immediately here".
Obviously, the Coutts' words are not enough to decide
the venue for the 32nd America’s Cup, as the New
Zealander admits himself.
"The problem is that I do not decide, but Ernesto
Bertarelli, the boss, and Michel Bonnefous",
underlined Russell Coutts.
"For
me, Naples and Lisbon are on the same level, but
the climatic conditions are better here", concluded
Coutts. "I repeat, I do not decide, but I can say
the Neapolitans that Naples has the papers in rule
in order to play the game ".
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Host
of Cup to be announced in October (05/15/03)
(source :
Foxsports)
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Russell
Coutts, skipper of the victorious Swiss team Alinghi
in the America's Cup, said Thursday the European city
to next host the competition would be announced early
this fall.
"We will have it down to two cities by the end of
July, with the final decision more likely to be in
October," the New Zealander told reporters in Paris.
The announcement deadline is in mid-December.
However, Coutts said Alinghi itself will not make
the final decision. AC Management, which includes
former Alinghi executive director Michel Bonnefous,
was set up after the America's Cup win victory to
decide on the next venue.
Coutts didn't say which city he favors, but said,
"Portugal has stronger winds, which is more spectacular,
and would be a challenge for sure." |
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Dean
Barker backs Cascais' America's Cup bid (05/09/03)
(source :
Foxsports)
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Team
New Zealand skipper Dean Barker endorsed Friday
the findings of a committee examining why his outfit
lost the America's Cup, even though the verdict
was painful.
"The
findings, I think, are fair," Barker told a
news conference in Lisbon. "It's
obviously a brutal report. It's the truth so we
can't deny that."
The report, prepared by Team New Zealand director
Peter Menzies and released Monday, blamed the team's
management structure which included Barker who was
in charge of sailing.
Barker was due to take part in a weekend regatta
in the Portuguese capital which is bidding to host
the 2007 competition. Alinghi is to decide by mid-December
where in Europe to host the event.
Lisbon offers a large, established port on
Portugal's Atlantic coast, and "is one of the
stronger contenders" and "one of the favored
choices" to stage the event, Barker said, though
Team New Zealand has no say in the choice of venue.
The schedule of regattas off Auckland, New
Zealand, in the last competition was often disrupted
by adverse weather.
"One of the most important features,
and one which I think Lisbon has, is consistent
wind," Barker said.
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Host
decision by mid-December (05/07/03)
(source :
OneSport)
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Alinghi,
the Swiss team that won the America's Cup earlier
this year, will decide by mid-December where in
Europe to host the 2007 competition, on the basis
of the best meteorologic condition and facilities
available, team officials said Wednesday.
"The
priority will be not losing too many racing days
as a result of adverse weather and sea condition,"
Alinghi's sport director and strategist, Jochen
Schuemann, told a news conference in Milan. The
schedule of regattas off Auckland in the last competition
was often disrupted by adverse weather.
The cities selected so far, out
of 160 bidders, are Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca
and Valencia, Spain; Naples, Porto Cervo (Sardinia)
and the Elba island, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; and
Marseille, France.
Schuemann said the number of bidders would
be cut to four by the end of May with the winning
venue announced by mid December.
A number of regattas, open to Alinghi and
Cup class boats, will be organised from September
through 2005, to have the teams confronting ahead
of the America's Cup, Alinghi officials said.
The first of the planned regattas will be
held off San Francisco in September but most will
be in southern Europe.
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Portuguese
Governement behind Cup bid (05/04/03)
(source
: NZ
Herald)
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Portugal will bid to host the America's Cup in
2007, the government said yesterday.
"Undertaking this competition in our country is of
the utmost importance, to the extent that it constitutes
a distinguished opportunity to reinforce Portugal's
image at international level," a statement issued
after the Portuguese government's weekly cabinet meeting
said.
Grant Dalton seems to back the portuguese bid as the
2007 costs would be determined by where Alinghi decided
to hold the event.
"It would be less expensive in Portugal than, say,
the south of France for land-based operations",
the new Team New Zealand boss said.
Cascais (near Lisbon) is in competition with seven
others European coastal cities for the honour of hosting
the next edition. |
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Marseilles
bid receives strong backing (04/30/03)
(source :
Mairie
de Marseille)
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World soccer legend Zinedine Zidane confirmed
his support for Marseilles' bid to stage the 2007
America's Cup on Monday, saying "it will be great"
if Marseilles can host the event.
Real Madrid's French soccer star will lead an impressive
list of some of the most powerful figures in French
sports, business and entertainment who are backing
the bid (Full
list here).
The announcement comes at a critical time as the
eight candidates will be narrowed to four very soon.
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