“They just won’t turn up,” said Kiwi boss Grant Dalton. “As part of the safety recommendations, the (US$100,000) fine (for not appearing in a race) has been waived and they can just keep on not turning up. It’s a Claytons schedule. I am not sure how they sugar-coated it in their statement, but Artemis vetoed the proposals. In the end, Artemis was the problem. They are the Challenger of Record and they can veto changes to the protocol – and they did.
“So the whole thing is now geared to the needs of the weakest common denominator,” said Dalton. “I wonder what would happen if the Rugby World Cup had to stop and re-organise itself in an unsatisfactory way because Namibia had a few injuries. How that would go down?
“We haven’t lost sight of the tragedy and we have said we are in favour of the safety recommendations but Artemis can get away with this because there are not enough teams in the America’s Cup,” said Dalton. “If there were five teams, they’d be gonners; they wouldn’t be here. But because there aren’t enough, the regatta will have to meet their needs and Luna Rossa are paying the price.”
The schedule has been amended so advanced ticket holders may be holding tickets to a non event.
The group, the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, is now supposed to raise about $22 million – down from an original $32 million – to defray the costs of things like permits, and increased police and Muni service. But it still owes the city about $800,000 on $1.6 million in costs from December. At the end of the month the group will receive another bill of about $3 million to $4 million for things like liability insurance, putting up railings around the perimeters of piers and signs to help cyclists and pedestrians find their way to the action.
“Am I the only one tired of hearing Tom Ehman spin the America’s Cup? The ‘Summer of Sailing’, which I was sorely tempted to attend, has now degenerated into “the Match is the big deal” “Adrian Morgan.
The America’s Cup, which appears to have been trying to separate itself from sailing since the creation of the “New” boats and format; supplementing the event with concerts and other events. The participants stated to me last year that they felt like characters in a sideshow.
The Annapolis- Newport race , Rambler and Donnybrook are already finished. Track the fleet HERE.
