http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/05/sports/SAIL.php

Sailing: Bigger boats for next America's Cups
By Christopher Clarey
Published: July 5, 2007

VALENCIA, Spain: For the first time since 1992,
there will be a new, larger class of yacht at the
next America's Cup, and that Cup will be held in
Europe. But the other big issues remained
unresolved Thursday, when Alinghi announced
the rules of engagement for the 33rd edition of
sailing's highest profile event.

Despite extensive negotiations, Valencia has
yet to secure the right to continue as the host
for the next Cup. The conversations continue.
According to Michel Bonnefous, head of
America's Cup Management, the Cup will take
place in 2009 if Valencia is selected. If not, the
Cup will be staged in another European site in
2010 or 2011. He said those decisions would
be made by the end of 2007 at the latest.

"Valencia has a lot of desire to do it; we've gone
a long way with the discussions, but we need to
discuss further how we would integrate the event
and the expansion of the commercial port that
they are planning" Bonnefous said.

Dubai, once considered a possible Cup host by
Alinghi's president, Ernesto Bertarelli, could still
stage a preliminary race. Pre-regattas were
introduced for this edition and were essentially
exhibitions but could have more weight in the
next cycle, because Bonnefous left open the
possibility of staging qualifying regattas for the
challenger finals.

"This will depend, of course, on the number of
teams who challenge," he said.

There were 11 challengers this time, and Michel
Hodara, director of ACM, said that if the Cup
remained in Valencia, there would probably be
room for 14 bases, including Alinghi's.

Teams that have said they intend to continue
include Shosholoza from South Africa, United
Internet Team Germany, China Team, Emirates
Team New Zealand and Desafío Español, which
will be the challenger of record for this cycle.

Some sailors and officials expressed concern
that the move to a new class could dissuade
challenges and expressed even more concern
that the shift gives too big an edge to Alinghi.

For now, Alinghi has yet to finalize a new class
rule, but the basic elements are contained in
the protocol, which was released Thursday. It
is also stipulated that teams will have a minimum
of 18 months after the announcement of the
class rule before they will have to race in their
new yachts.

"The hardest thing for me sitting here as a
potential competitor is that not knowing the rule
for the boat is a huge disadvantage," said Paul
Cayard, a former America's Cup skipper and
syndicate head who expects to take part in the
next Cup, perhaps with Desafío. "Meanwhile,
Alinghi is going to be working on it, I assume,
by themselves. It didn't sound like they were
too eager to get anybody else involved, so
that's going to be a huge technical advantage."

The new class will have a maximum overall
length of 27.4 meters, or 90 feet, which is 3.4
meters longer on average than the current class.
The boats will have a significantly deeper draft
of 6.5 meters, with the current draft being 4.1
meters. When racing, the new yachts must be
equipped with a sliding keel system capable of
reducing draft to 4.1 meters for entering port.
The class should be lighter and faster and
should sail in a wider range of wind speeds than
the old class, which has been in place for the
last five editions of the Cup.

"These boats have been fantastic and certainly
I like sailing them, but in the end I think they've
got to the end of their life," said Alinghi's skipper,
Brad Butterworth, who said he intended to
continue working for Alinghi. "But in the end, the
boats will be bigger, faster and harder to sail.
They will be 90-footers that won't have hydraulic,
electric run winches. The guys will have to be
athletic."

The current class was created through consultation
between the San Diego Yacht Club, the defender
in 1992, and prospective challengers. That is not
the plan this time. "If you get them all involved you
never come up with anything," Butterworth said of
designers.

The question is whether it's wise to change the
class of yachts when this America's Cup match
was the most competitive and compelling in 24
years, with Alinghi beating Team New Zealand,
5-2, with the races consistently close.

Why change and risk returning to the blowouts
of the past? "Because if you want to hold on to
the Cup, that's what you do," Cayard said of Alinghi.

Alinghi also has the right, according to the new
protocol, to take part in the round-robin phases
of the challenger series, which have been off limits
to the defender. That concession sparked
questions Thursday whether Desafío, which signed
the protocol as challenger of record, had been
manipulated.

"We don't feel like puppets," said Agustín Zulueta,
Desafío's general manager. He said his syndicate
had agreed to the change because teams might
be permitted to build just one boat this cycle
instead of the customary two.

"It is not fair that Alinghi cannot compete if they
don't have another boat to test and train against,"
Zulueta said.

The race would be more interesting if cannons were placed on the boats.