"ALMOST HALFTIME IN AC 2007"
Here is Richard Gladwell's article that appears...



...in the Jan-Mar 2005 issue of Pacific Motoryacht Magazine, just out on the newstands in Australia and New Zealand, for which I sat for an interview over a good, long lunch at Heaquarters -- better known as "HQ" -- the popular Auckland yachtie pub/watering hole.





It's hard to believe that it is almost two years since the America’s Cup left New Zealand’s shores. And, equally hard to believe that there are just over a couple of years left before the 32nd America’s Cup match is contested in Valencia, Spain.

Concluded is the first series of preliminary regattas, or Acts, as they are known in current Cup-speak, which have marked a radical departure from the old Defender vs Challenger relationship that served for 153 years. The Acts have been a big step forward for the America’s Cup and professional sailing, and most of the issues have been overcome in terms of logistics, media and spectator interest, and action. Now there’s a high profile yachting event that can take place out of a large area of hardstand in a dock area.

Far from being the tedious set pieces that many feared, the Acts in Marseille and then Valencia, took on a character of their own. And, one that was different from the Cup itself, and the “Road to the Cup” regattas seen in New Zealand. All of the competitors had their moments and certainly the Acts did not turn into the Alinghi and BMW Oracle Show, with the other challengers just playing bit actor roles.

Despite a major setback at the end of the first Act in Marseille, when NZL-82 was knocked from her cradle in a freak storm, Team New Zealand bounced back to emerge as top points-scorer from the three regattas. Given the sorry state of play in mid-2003, Team New Zealand have exceeded the wildest dreams of their home-town fans – including building a new team from local and international talent, and getting a big chunk of the funding in place including the signing of Emirates Airlines as major sponsor. With a two boat testing program now underway in the Hauraki Gulf, and the success in 2004, Emirates Team New Zealand has definitely moved out of its dog-box in Struggle Street.

Announced are the first official Challengers for the 32nd America’s Cup. Eight challengers from six countries met the first entry deadline. Six of these were named when the first deadline passed on 17 December. A seventh, El Reto from Spain, announced a few days later, and at the time of writing, an eighth challenger was still unannounced.

Passing through New Zealand recently on this way to the next Challenger meeting in San Francisco in early February, was Chairman of the Challenger Commission, Tom Ehman (USA) - whose America’s Cup pedigree extends back into 1980 when he was a rules advisor for the New York Yacht Club and the defenders. After a diet of Cup campaigns, 1987 in Fremantle with America II, organisation of the ’88 and ’92 Cups in San Diego and as DC’s rules advisor in 1995, followed by an involvement in Formula 1 motor-racing, Ehman got back into the Cup in 2000 with AmericaOne and with then Oracle BMW in 2003. He is now the first Chairman of the Challenger Commission – a group representing all Challengers - following the appointment of BMW Oracle and the Golden Gate Yacht Club (San Francisco) as Challenger of Record.

A major item for the Challengers is to reach agreement of the format and scoring of the Challenger Selection Series (CSS) – the winner of which will go forward to face defender Alinghi.

“We have considered a number of formats and plans,” says Ehman making it clear that he is speaking as Chairman of the Challenger Commission and not BMW Oracle who have their own spokespeople.

“On the format issue, the one expected to be preferred for the CSS is to use a number of round robins, probably three. The competitors race each other once starting in mid-April. Round Robin 1 might count for 1 point, RR2 for 2pts and RR3 for 3pts. After that the top four go onto the semi finals, and sail a best of nine match racing series, and same again for the Defender Final.

“This all happens from the middle of April to the middle of June – two months, when in the past it has taken four months. So it should be better racing, more intensive, a simple system and one that has produced AC winners in the past”, Ehman explains.

Sailing for points in the build-up regattas, or Acts, was another of the initiatives introduced by Alinghi in their Grand Plan for the 2007 America’s Cup. While bringing some needle into the regattas, now the Challengers have the vexed issue of how to use and apply them.

“The thing we have all been grappling as teams, and ACM (America’s Cup Management being the overall event organiser) is that we have been doing these pre-regattas – which will number 13 in total, starting with three in 2004 through to the fleet race regatta in 2007. The challenge has been how to use those Acts in a meaningful way, but such that we don’t determine the challenger in 2006, before we start the Challenger Selection Series in 2007.

“The idea that will be worked through in February is that the Act regattas will not be used for points in the CCS, but for “Perks”.

“This year, 2004, Emirates TNZ was the top team, for successive years, the thinking is that we will weight the years so that as we get closer to the Cup each are weighted a little more and you will get a seeding of the Teams. That seeding would be fixed and wouldn’t change, so that going into the CCS, the first seed retains that title.

“The use of points for 'perks' means that say the top seeded team will get to chose their opponent in the semi’s – and this right does not fall to the team that has the most points out of the Round Robins, which is the way that it has been in the past.

“This will be sufficient incentive to sail hard because although you might the fourth boat in the semis, if you were the top points-scorer from the Act regattas - you still get to choose your opponent. So everyone needs to sail hard.

“Another 'Perk' could be that you get to choose the entry side of the starting lines for the first race. In a light air series, or if the first race is light, you are going to want starboard entry because starboard entry wins such a high proportion of the races. It is not an insignificant advantage to have.

“Or, ties could be broken in favour of the highest seeded team. For example, if you are tied for 4th at the end of round robins – the higher seeded team could go forward. That could mean a whole lot.

“There could also be other non-racing things like where you get to march in the parade. The point is that we want to create some additional fascinations for the media and spectators. At the same time, the trick is to create a motivation for the teams to race hard during this whole preliminary period without determining who the semi-finalists are before the racing even starts.

“Initially the CSS format is decided by the Challengers as a group within the Challengers Commission however it is still subject to the agreement of ACM, because they are interested in having something that builds interest and excitement and can be promoted to the media. Hopefully this plan or something very similar to it will prevail.

“Everyone likes the idea of using the preliminary regattas for perks not for points. The concept has been discussed since December and seems to have broad support. We don’t know officially what ACM’s attitude is. Even if it’s just the three perks that have been mentioned - then it’s enough that every team is going to fight hard for every point."

In spite of the points accumulating from the Acts or that some Challengers may announce late and miss accumulating points form the Act regattas, Ehman is adamant that Challengers will remain masters of their own destiny. “Win races in the round robin, win your semi-finals, win your finals and you will still go forward to be the Challenger. It doesn’t matter how you are seeded you win you will still go forward. But if it is close, and you work hard in these Acts then you can get some perks to help you progress in a tight situation.

Another minor issue is how to handle the points accumulated to date from the 2004 regattas.

“Under the Protocol the current points count, unless we decide to all discount them. My idea is that they should count but not for much and should be weighted so that 2004 doesn’t count as much as 2005 and 2006. But if we start now then that is fine as far as I am concerned, it is over to the challengers as a group as to what they want to do," concludes Ehman.

Other issues at the Challengers Meeting include discussing details of the 2005 Acts. “Acts Four and Five are in Valencia in June. Six and Seven are either in Kiel or Malmo (Sweden) with the final venue still being negotiated by ACM. Eight and Nine are scheduled for late September and early Oct in Southern Europe, however that deal has not yet been signed but has been announced by the locals that it will be held in NW Sicily.”

Also on the agenda for the Challengers Meeting is the latest update on marketing the Challenger Series and America’s Cup, plus television and Team Base issues that Challengers normally have as a group.

Compared to Auckland and previous Cup venues and organisations, Ehman believes the 32nd edition of the America’s Cup is coming along well. “So far, so good” he says.

“The relationship between the Challenger and Defender is quite different from what it has been in the past. This is all new territory for all of us. We have never done pre-regattas. We have never had a central organising committee, or a single television production covering both the Louis Vuitton and America’s Cups.

“Some of it s going very well, some of it is not going so well as when we had separate deals. I don’t want to go into the details, because we might be able to get it cleared up.

“Since’83, when Louis Vuitton first became involved the Challengers have been able to use more or less the same cookbook and same recipe to run the Cup.

“You form a Challenger group, hire someone a Regatta Director, maybe do a television deal yourselves and you have a Challenger Selection Series.” For the 2007 Cup that has all changed and everything has been put in the one bucket.

“There have been some growing pains”, concedes Ehman. “There are new budget and personnel issues. Shopping the venue was a brand new concept. This is not only the first time that the Cup will be held at a non-Anglo venue, it is also the first time for the Cup in Europe. It is also the first time that the venue is not the home town of the Defender - which is both a plus and a minus.

“Valencia is a town without a lot of Cup experience and they don’t have driving force of a local yacht club like NYYC in Newport, San Diego and certainly RNZYS here and with Sir Peter.

“Now we are dealing with government entities that are competing with each other and it is quite a bit more difficult to get things done than it was in Auckland, for example, where the key people knew the local yachting scene.

“So it remains to be seen. We have created a monster by centralising all of this. But in some ways it is way better and the opportunities are way better because we have got these pre-regattas.

“Hopefully we will all be co-promoting with ACM, which works for everybody. A lot of the Alinghi vs the Challengers thing has gone away. The idea of competing on the water but not on the shore has, in many ways, taken hold.

“I would say that the venue, Valencia, itself is very potentially very good. And if it doesn’t end up costing the teams a lot of money - which is a potential problem - we could have the best of everything we have ever had, all in the one place.

“It’s sunny, the wind is good; the local people are very interested; if the television coverage is good, and the shore-side crowds are good then that is 90% of the battle.”

In spite of the Spanish political machinations and typically slow European start to major construction, Ehman believes that progress is acceptable thus far. “It seems to take a long time for them to get a plan and get it moving. But once they get it moving, the Spanish, and in particular the Valencianos, are very efficient. It can be frustrating waiting to get the plan in place on any of these shoreside events. But finally when the buttons are pushed and the Madrid Government’s involved and the organising committees and team all get on the same page – it’s impressive as to how quickly things happen.”

“I’m confident things will be ready on time”, Ehman adds.

Turning to the Coutts vs Alinghi situation, Ehman declines to comment, saying it is a matter between the two parties and it is over to them to resolve. Referring to the fact that the 2007 America’s Cup will probably be sailed without some of the long-time stars and icons of the event such as Tom Schnackenberg, Russell Coutts, Paul Cayard, Tom Whidden and Dennis Conner, he says, “You and I and any serious yachties will miss not having some of these people around. But most of the fans who will watch the next Cup will never have heard of any of these people. And it will be the Dean Barkers, Chris Dicksons, Ed Bairds and James Spithills who will be known. I’m less concerned about which individuals are competing than I am that ACM have a strong global television show, because that is way more important. The Cup needs Reach and Frequency.

“For the non-sailing public the America’s Cup needs to be seen as a fascinating game among teams, and a number of teams from a number of different countries and that all are competitive in the contest for the world’s oldest sport trophy.

“Based on the press reports, I was pleased by the positive response and success of those pre-regattas or Acts."

The first of the new Version Five boats will appear on the start line in Valencia in June. Ehman believes the latest edition of the America’s Cup Class rule has been “boxed” so that they boats will be very similar, but “souped-up” a little for downwind sailing – with a tonne lighter displacement, bigger sail area and more draft. Upwind performance is expected to be similar to the previous generation, but downwind will be faster which should encourage gives more overtaking.

“The tolerances of sail area, waterline length and draft have been significantly narrowed. Instead of the boats varying in waterline length by half a metre they will vary by only a few centimetres. They will come in on the maximum draft, same displacement, and within 2-3 sq metres of sail area when the range was 30-40 sq metres last time, under version 4 of the rule.

“So although the boats won’t be one-design, there are still some tolerances to play with, the boats will be more boxed, within this latest version of the rule than in the past, which will lead to closer racing ,and the sailing will be more important than ever. That is going to make the event more exciting, I hope so.

“Add to that the additional possibilities of passing downwind over shorter time – 90 minutes than three to four hours – only two laps instead of three. At least in the early going, two races per day, more fleet racing which is visually spectacular."

As one of the instigators of the introduction of umpiring to match racing, Tom Ehman has always been one of the visionaries of the sport. While his focus is on 2007, he can’t help but try and peer over the horizon beyond Valencia.

“The biggest problem with this event, in my personal opinion”, he says, “is the time. It’s way too long between events. This event should be happening right now in ’05. We should have raced here in 2003, gone off and done some events like we did. And the Challenger selection series should already be starting in March or April. If that were the case then the cash-burn rate for the teams would be half what it is at present. So you get as much or more sponsorship revenue (some would say more, because you get two big events in four years) for half the price!

“If this event were happening every other year you would get many more teams because it costs half as much money to get the team up and running.

“We have come a long way from America’s Cup 31 to America’s Cup 32. And now you have to make the next step which is to figure out how to have a main event every other year. If we can make this next event, who ever wins, held in 2009 rather than 2011, then we will have done the sport a huge service.

“We need to regularise and it needs to happen more often, that is the next big goal."

Had Tom Ehman had his own way, Auckland would be sitting back in its armchair and preparing to watch America’s Cup 2005 sailed in the Hauraki Gulf. “From my personal perspective, and I proposed this at the time, regardless of who ever won in 2003, the 32nd America’s Cup would have been in Auckland in 2005. Whoever had won in 2003, would have had the venue in 2007. So you give everyone their four years to prepare the venue, and you know with regularity when the next event is going to be and where.

“If everyone gets it in their mind that we will have more teams, more promotion, more excitement and more interest. It is better for everybody that we do it every two years – or conceivably every year.

“As we are showing with these preliminary regattas it’s not difficult to move these teams to somewhere like Marseilles, set them down on a big hard surfaced area, lift the boats into water and have a regatta. That, to me, is the next big step the Cup has to make. But that is only possible when you are bidding the venue, and only possible when you have a central organising committee."

This time round, with all the changes that have been made Ehman seemed reasonably pleased with number of Challengers and believes that the Cup game has always been limited to some extent by the talent pool of sailors, designers and others who are available. With each team running at about 100 strong, at a peak, the nine teams that will contest AC2007 will involve about 1,000 professionals, of whom about 300 are sailors – most of whom would rank amongst the top professional sailing talent in the world.

“The big problem with these campaigns is that they run for too long. The marginal cost to the teams to participate in these Acts is not that great. What we are learning is that the more events you have the more revenue you are getting. So if we have more events with less burn rate, then the cost drops, and that's good for everybody.”



Who will hold the next Cup defense? When and where??