Desafío Español is Alinghi's new
official challenger for the America's Cup.
Manuel Chirivella, president of the Spanish syndicate's
yacht club which the Spanish team will challenge
(called Club Nautico Español), signed the protocol
which allows Desafio Espanol to be the official
"challenger of record", or challengers' representative.
The signature came moments after Alinghi won a photo
finish over Emirates Team New Zealand on Tuesday.
Alinghi owner Ernesto Bertarelli said an announcement
about the next America's Cup would be made on Thursday.
The "challenger of record" helps set the format
of the America's Cup regatta, while representing
all of the challengers in negotiations with the
defending winner.
BMW Oracle Racing of the United
States was the "challenger of record" for the 32nd
America's Cup.
The 33rd Cup is not
that far away, slated for 2009, in the shortest
cycle since the acrimonious Big Boat v Catamaran
oddity in 1988 which followed the 1987 Cup in Fremantle.
With the cup remaining in Europe, Desafio
Espanol's declaration has been interpreted as a
sign that the cup will return to Valencia, which
has invested at least €500 million (US$681 million)
in Port America's Cup after being selected to host
the 2007 event.
"Valencia has been a perfect venue for the first
America's Cup in Europe," Bertarelli said.
Though Bertarelli, who owns both Alinghi and America's
Cup Management, realised the Cup's true value to
the winner by putting hosting rights out to tender
after winning in Auckland in 2003, a similar bidding
process is unlikely.
A European venue is firmly in mind, scotching the
notion of decamping to Dubai for anything more than
a preliminary regatta, and several cities have already
pitched strongly.
Valencia's estimated winning bid fee for the current
event was between €55 million and €85 million and
a higest figure is being discussed again.
Having spent more than €2 billion on infrastructure,
Valencia is keen to keep its grip on the Cup. One
forecast puts the long-term return at €3.6 billion
for the city and €2.4 billion for Spain.
Reinforcing Spain's determination to keep the Cup
is the presence along side Manuel Chirivella of
regional president Francisco Camps and Ignacio Sanchez
Galan, the boss of power company Iberdrola.
