Americas Cup Cont.

New AC34 Website Touts “Tradition”
by TOM SHEVLIN on MAY 7, 2010 · 1 COMMENT
in CHASING THE CUP, LOCAL NEWS
NEWPORT, R.I. – As the rollout of the next America’s Cup officially begins, organizers have said that central to their mission is restoring the romance with the race. In keeping with that theme, the Cup’s newly unveiled website prominently features as part of its homepage the word “Tradition” overlayed against a series of images of past Cup races, that happened to have been sailed when the Cup was based in Newport.

Whether organizers care to admit it, for many sailing purists, this coincidence speaks volumes. If the team from BMW/Oracle Racing and its head software billionaire Larry Ellison, are serious about recapturing the imagination of the sporting community, then there can be no other choice but to bring the Cup back to the grounds where those iconic images now online were taken.


Ellison, who recently purchased the Astors’ Beechwood must know somewhere deep down that the Cup is bigger than any one city or host community. Some would even say it’s too big for Newport. But Newport’s legacy, sailing heritage and naturally superior conditions, are just what the Cup needs.

For the benefit of the sport, the choice of venue for the next Cup match must return the race to its roots.

From the outset, it appears that to their credit, the Defender is doing just that. Already, Ellison has made it a point to craft a new set of design rules that will create closer racing with boats that rely more on teamwork than technology; there’s a move afoot to re-launch a challenger series which would effectively take Cup competition to ports of call around the world; and the desire to see a world-class Cup Village developed to serve as a home base for syndicates and fans, would go a long way to galvanizing the spirit of open competition and accessibility.

But even with all of those nods to the past, how fervently can one claim to be committed to reviving the series if Newport – which played host to the glory days and whose conditions are a sailor’s dream – doesn’t play a part in the competition?

Ellison has made his fortune. Let’s hope that the state gives him reason to leave a lasting legacy: The man who brought the Cup back where it belongs.



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