US team Oracle reiterated Thursday its wish that the next edition of the America’s Cup, a multihull duel against defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland, be held in March 2010 in Valencia, Spain.
It also said the following edition of yachting’s premier racing event could also be staged in 2011 or 2012 in Valencia, where Alinghi won the 32nd America’s Cup in July 2007, and has asked its Swiss rivals to aim for this.
This position was expressed by two officials, Oracle spokesman Tom Ehman and the team’s skipper Russell Coutts of New Zealand, to local media Thursday in Valencia, and in a letter sent to Alinghi.
In the letter, Oracle recalled that a US court has ruled that the multihull duel must take place no later than next February in Valencia, or if not there in a location selected by Alinghi by August 8 in the southern hemisphere.
The US team left the door open to a mutual agreement on another location in the northern hemisphere with Alinghi, which said earlier this week that it was studying “various locations” for the duel without giving further details.
Oracle suggested as a mediator for the organization of this duel the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), but said it does not want to change the date for the event.
Ehman and Coutts said that no matter what the outcome of the duel is, Oracle would like the 34th America’s Cup to be held soon in Valencia in its traditional format, involving multiple challengers, in what is a departure from its usual position up until now.
They also indicated that racing events similar to the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series held earlier this year in New Zealand could take place this fall at Valencia.
Oracle also indicated that its “USA” multihulls yacht for the duel will be launched this summer but did not clarify whether the ship the giant trimaran it is modifying in San Diego or a new multihull under construction.
The multihull Alinghi is building in Switzerland is also expected to be launched this summer. Oracle said the rules of the event forbid it from having two masts, as Alinghi proposed in a recent letter.
via AFP.
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