New AC Venue a Possibility
On January 29th we reported that Russell Coutts, Oracle Team USA’s CEO, was frustrated that the city of San Francisco had not offered the same terms and conditions to the America’s Cup Event Authority for the 35th America’s Cup as they had for the 34th. And perhaps as a way of pressuring the City, he conceded that he wasn’t optimistic about this change of heart and that he was looking at other venues for the 35th America’s Cup.
Today, in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Coutts put more pressure on Mayor Ed Lee and his negotiators letting it be known that he has opened-up a competition among five different venues to host the Cup. Two were specified, San Diego and Hawaii, and a third was described as a "northern state," likely alluding to Rhode Island.
"I was hoping we’d be able to complete a deal (with San Francisco) – because everyone knew what it was – relatively quickly," said Coutts. "Perhaps that was too optimistic."
A decision on where the 35th America’s Cup will be held, the kind of boats that will be raced and the racing rules were to be announced March 1. Because of the current state of talks, however, many of these decisions have been moved to this summer.
"Now that we’ve had to go out to other venues, we’ve got to obviously do our due diligence on that," Coutts said. "Let’s wait and see what they come back with."
In related news, Oracle Team USA has announced their design team for the 35th America’s Cup. Eleven of the designers are from the United States. This might hint at a future nationality rule that encompasses not just the racers, but overall team members.
“We’ve collected a talented group of designers for this campaign and a majority of them are American,” said Oracle Team USA’s (returning) General Manager, Grant Simmer. “We have a good mix of experience and expertise across the disciplines where we think the design challenge for this next America’s Cup will be contested.”
Two of the newest Americans to join the team are Len Imas and Hal Youngren. Youngren was recruited from none other than Team New Zealand in the 34th America’s Cup.
“In many ways, the release of the design rule is the starting gun for the 35th America’s Cup,” said Simmer. “From that moment on, the clock is ticking towards the start of race one, and time, which is your most precious currency in these campaigns, starts to get spent. We need to be ready to work from day one and spend our time wisely.”
They won’t be lolling around, they are scheduled to announce the parameters of the new America’s Cup Class Rule sometime next month.
Designers will be getting Jimmy Spithill’s feedback too, as he has also re-signed with the program, for his third consecutive America’s Cup.
Oracle Team USA’s design team for the 35th America’s Cup includes: Paul Bieker (USA), Dimitri Despierres (FRA), Len Imas (USA), Hal Youngren (USA), Aaron Perry (USA), Bryan Baker (USA), Juan Vila (ESP), Scott Ferguson (USA), Christophe Elberding (GER), Thomas Hann (GER), Steven Roberts (FRA), Jose Luis Vela (ESP), Tom Speer (USA), Eric Jolley (USA), Andrew Gaynor (USA), Ian Burns (AUS), JB Braun (USA), Kurt Jordan (USA).