Design of new Americas Cup Class Rule underway

Design of new America's Cup Class Rule underway

America's Cup designers from Alinghi and the five challengers attended the first design consultation meeting on Saturday 15 September at the AC Management offices in Valencia.

Tom Schnackenberg, the class rule and competition regulations consultant, on behalf of ACM, submitted the general summary of the rule status and invited comments from the challengers. On the agenda for discussion was the philosophy, which foresees an exciting race boat to watch, in terms of speed, size and power. The 90 footer must be physically and technically demanding for the sailors, as Schnackenberg describes: "A boat that harks back to the physical demands in Fremantle for example where every day was raced in 22 knots."

Many design features need to be straightforward initially due to the tight timeframe that teams will be working within on a two year Cup cycle, but room must be left for substantial future development.

The key dimensions were confirmed as 90ft waterline length and 6.5m draft with a retractable keel to 4.1m, while other key dimensions, including beam, weight and consequently the sail area have been decided based on the infrastructure constraints in Valencia (bases, pontoons, etc). These and the key structural rules will remain confidential to the teams participating in the meetings until the 31 October when the new class rule will be made public.

Tom Schnackenberg commented on the day: "Everyone was very well behaved! I think we have made an excellent start with what is really a very important task. We want this rule to excite designers, sailors and the public alike and to form the foundation of a class that will endure and prosper for a long time." His positive comments were welcomed by Grant Dalton of Emirates Team New Zealand : "This is a good start to the next Cup and we at TNZ are really excited about the new class. There is no time to lose with such a short Cup cycle and we're pleased that we're getting underway."

The next meeting is scheduled for the 15 October where the design group will discuss the 1st draft of the rule. And meanwhile Schnackenberg will continue to receive input and develop a dialogue with the challengers and Alinghi as part of the design process.

The 32nd America 's Cup competitors receive their share of profits

AC Management (ACM), organiser of the 32nd America's Cup, distributes 90% of the EUR 66.5 millions net surplus the event generated over the past four years to participating teams. This will help teams prepare for the 33rd America's Cup which is to take place in 2009.

By creating a single structure managing both the Challenger Selection Series and the America's Cup Match and by developing a professional marketing strategy, the organisers of the 32nd America's Cup succeeded in creating a net surplus to be shared with all competitors of the 32nd event.

This EUR 66.5 million surplus comes from a total revenue of EUR 240 million, generated largely through the city bid and the four year sponsorship programme, but also through TV rights, the hospitality programme and the concessions and marinas of Port America's Cup.

"This is a significant result and by providing the funds to the teams now, we aim to help them prepare their 33rd campaign, while also giving continuity to the event," said Michel Hodara, CEO of ACM.

Ernesto Bertarelli, syndicate head of Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America 's Cup, commented: "The vision for the 32nd America 's Cup was to create a fantastic sporting occasion, in Europe, with a viable commercial business model comparable to other major global sporting events."

The America's Cup delivered on both accounts with this edition being arguably the best ever with over 4 billion TV viewers and 6 million visitors, watching extremely close racing. Bertarelli now looks to the future: "Our vision for the 33rd America's Cup is to create an even greater sporting occasion for 2009 with an exciting new class of boats and to build upon the successes of the 32nd edition."