Admiral's Cup disadvantage for US & Australia

by Rob Kothe on 29 Jan 2001 The IC45 (formerly called the Corel 45) circuit kicked into action over the weekend, with the well funded British Admiral's Cup team proving they will be the team to beat in 2001, with their IC45 Barlo Plastics dominating the 7 nation event.

This brings into focus the problems facing the US and Australia offshore racing fraternity looking towards the July Admiral's Cup. The dropping of the IMS 50 category has left the sailing nations outside Europe disadvantaged.

Both Australia and the US have very competitive Sydney 40 and Farr 40 teams but have no domestic IC45 (Corel 45) sailboats.

The sentiment is common amongst these teams that unless a competitive IC45 campaign can be mounted then the considerable expense of an Admiral's Cup team campaign is not justifiable.

Fortunately the Australian Ray Roberts currently has his Asian based 45 out of the water in Malaysia having its keel and rudder re-faired prior to shipment to Spain to join the European circuit.

However the British program is much more advanced, with Barlo Plastics sponsoring their three-boat campaign. This allows the skippers and crews across the three categories to train and compete hard across the European circuits.

Unless the Americans and Australia can finalise their third boat in the next 30 days, it does seem that the Admiral's Cup 2001 could be an all European affair.