Tag: 34th america’s cup

UNFAIR TO LUNA ROSSA?

I find that the press and the America’s cup reporting are unduly harsh about team Luna Rossa. The Italians (and  Team New Zealand) have been laboring under an uneven playing field. One where the rules seem to change every day.

These two teams must race, each in their turn against a no-show opponent. America’s Cup Management has chosen not to allow these unopposed races to appear on You Tube. The boats are still incredibly powerful and thrilling to watch, but it is not their fault that Team Artemis is not prepared to race. They had agreed to wait for Artemis to be ready to sail. An offer that was refused.

The behavior of the America’s Cup so far has not provided the kind of leadership one would hope for from the pinnacle of our sport. Despite my concerns it is my sincere hope that once the Cup series is completed in September, the squabbling will be forgotten; and history will move forward.

GRANDSTANDS COMING DOWN

Artemis Racing, the Swedish sailing syndicate that suffered a fatal accident during training in May for the America’s Cup, released a scathing statement Monday regarding recently published comments from one its chief competitors, Emirates Team New Zealand.

Artemis characterized the comments as “out of line and unsportsmanlike.”

“In response to comments by Emirates Team New Zealand’s Managing Director Grant Dalton in a June 8, 2013 article in the New Zealand Herald, we would like to set the record straight,” the statement read. “Dalton’s proposals to change the (Louis Vuitton Cup) race would certainly not help Artemis Racing, as suggested, but make it even harder for us to compete.”

Dalton’s plan would start direct elimination July 19, rather than Aug. 6, and alter the format to eliminate the semifinals.

Late last week, Artemis announced that it would not be ready for the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the round-robin event that decides the competitor for Oracle Racing’s defense of the America’s Cup in September. The LV Cup was scheduled to start July 7. Instead, New Zealand and Italian syndicate Luna Rossa will start without their Swedish counterparts.

Artemis announced plans to join the racing in August, allowing time to rebuild its damaged boat and still make a run at the finals. Race organizers agreed to the new plan.

Dalton took exception with the race organizers’ accommodation.

“So the whole thing is now geared to the needs of the weakest common denominator,” Dalton was quoted in the article. “I wonder what would happen if the Rugby World Cup had to stop and reorganize itself in an unsatisfactory way because Namibia had a few injuries. How would that go down?”

Dalton wasn’t done, saying: “We haven’t lost sight of the tragedy and we have said we are in favor of the safety recommendations, but Artemis can get away with this because there are not enough teams in the America’s Cup. If there were five teams, they’d be goners; they wouldn’t be here. But because there aren’t enough, the regatta will have to meet their needs. … ”

Artemis racing found Dalton’s tone objectionable, prompting Monday’s statement.

“Dalton’s proposals benefit no team but his own, and his public insults are out of line and unsportsmanlike,” the statement read. “Artemis Racing’s May 9 accident set us back immensely – on a human level and a campaign level. As competitors, though, we may be down, but we are not out.

“Our passion for the America’s Cup remains strong. We are committed again to competing. Anyone who knows our sailors knows that our team will not shy away from a tough challenge. We are doing our best to recover and our target is to be ready for racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup’s semifinals on Aug. 6, if not earlier. In the meantime, the race schedule should remain unchanged and the derogatory analogies should be left on the dock.”

Emirates New Zealand released its response late Monday, stating: “The joint proposal put forth by Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand of starting the Louis Vuitton Cup later in July was done so in the hope of enhancing the event with a full muster of boats from the beginning, and therefore, placing more importance on the racing from the first race, something for which fans and sponsors are craving right now.

“Normally the challenger series of an America’s Cup is run on terms that meet the wishes of the majority of challengers,” Dalton said in the statement. “This is not the case here with Artemis rejecting the proposal and wanting to continue running an event schedule in which, by under their own admission, they will not compete in the early stages.

“Obviously, it was assumed that 10 weeks after the Artemis tragedy, that having previously taken delivery of their second AC72, they would be ready to race. This is not the case.”

The back-and-forth between the two teams was the latest wrinkle for an event that has had tragedy and controversy in recent months. In addition to the death of Artemis sailor Andrew “Bart” Simpson, who drowned during a training run May 9, the event has become shrouded with financial concerns.

Three competitors, down from an estimated dozen two years ago, remain to challenge for the Cup held by Oracle. That has resulted in lower estimates of the race’s economic benefits, and fundraising has slowed, meaning the city could be on the hook for significant expenses.

 

Grandstands coming down

America’s Cup officials said Monday they are refunding grandstand tickets for races through the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals because of the uncertainty of when challenger Artemis Racing will be ready to compete following the deadly capsize of its first boat last month.

Depending on when Artemis returns, there could be only five days of racing between July 7 and Aug. 1.

America’s Cup CEO Stephen Barclay said it’s the right thing to do to refund the tickets and take down the grandstands until Artemis returns.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Sniping-between-teams-at-America-s-Cup-4592680.php#ixzz2Vv44e62p

 

Once the racing is over, no one will remember most of the details. Meanwhile is is a bit clumsy and fragile organization.

THROW A DOG A BONE,MAYBE?

Does this sound like playing both sides? Up is the up side for Newport?

Newport may get America’s Cup pre-regatta races

01:00 AM EST on Saturday, January 8, 2011

By kate bramson

journal staff writer

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Ehman

PROVIDENCE –– Newport’s loss of the America’s Cup final Match races behind them, state leaders and Cup officials went back to the drawing board Friday to try to hammer out a deal to bring pre-regatta races to the City by the Sea.

“Now it’s not a done deal, but I’d say … we’re probably 75 percent of the way there,” Thomas Ehman, head of Oracle Racing external affairs, said Friday at the State House with Governor Chafee at his side.

Ehman said he’s “confident” the state can complete negotiations with America’s Cup officials in the next couple of weeks, when he hopes to reach a final agreement.

Ehman said he traveled to Rhode Island this week with “two asks” for Rhode Island: Could the state be ready to host an America’s Cup World Series event this September and could the state be the Cup’s backup plan for the final Match races in 2013 if, for any reason, the deal with San Francisco falls apart?

“We don’t think there are any problems in San Francisco,” Ehman said. “But if for any reason it falters … we need — as prudent sailors, businesspeople, event organizers — we need a backup plan and from what I’ve heard today from … the governor and on down, everyone has said, ‘Yes, we think we can figure out a way to help you if on the small chance that happens.’ ”

The state’s not counting on such a fumble, but leaders are gearing up to become the site for pre-regatta races.

“I’m an America’s Cup fan,” Chafee said. “I was on the race course in 1983 in the seventh race, I saw on that tragic downwind when Australia II finally passed Dennis Conner’s Liberty and the Cup left Newport. I think our chances of getting it back are slim — Tom’s been very honest — in 2013. But there are other opportunities, and that’s what we’ve been talking about.”

State leaders said the World Series races would be an economic boon to all of Rhode Island. House Speaker Gordon D. Fox said it’s appropriate to try to upgrade Fort Adams State Park as the venue because the money would be spent to improve a state asset.

No one could say how much it would cost to bring the September regatta here — partly because discussions with Ehman before Friday had centered on costs for hosting the final Match races.

“We don’t know it,” said Richard A. Licht, director of administration. “We don’t know the specifics of what they need yet.”

America’s Cup officials are dreaming of a different kind of race to bring sailing to the masses, envisioning pre-regatta races as a way to build enthusiasm and momentum for the final Match, Ehman said.

They’ll call an annual series of four to six regattas, which will begin this summer in Europe and lead up to the final Match race, the America’s Cup World Series. At the end of each series, they’ll name a world champion, hoping to maintain momentum for the sport in between final Cup years.

Newport would be the first American location for the World Series, Ehman said.

“And the idea is that as soon as the 2013 America’s Cup is over, [they’ll go] right back on the racing circuit, back to Newport,” he said.

Also at the State House Friday, state Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed said state leaders hope the “glorious” facilities at Fort Adams will lure even more races to Newport.

“We want people spending money here,” the governor chimed in.

Ehman said the nine-day World Series regatta in Newport is tentatively set for Sept. 17 to 25.

America’s Cup organizers are negotiating for live television coverage — “not just on minor networks” — for that final Sunday of the Newport regatta, he said. Then Ehman, who calls himself a “proud former resident of Newport,” hearkened back to the days of America’s Cup glory in the city, recalling the first live telecast of an America’s Cup race was in Newport on Sept. 25 of the final year Newport hosted the race.

“When it went live on TV in 1983, that’s when the Cup really became a worldwide phenomenon, and that’s what we aim to do here with these America’s Cup World Series events, starting with Rhode Island,” Ehman said.

After the media fanfare subsided at the State House, he added: “It’s important to have a connection to the history and tradition of the Cup. … If we can make this happen, this is a cool thing for all concerned.”

kbramson@projo.com