PHOTOGRAPH: LAND ROVER BARON BOARDAPRIL 2017 WWW.BOATINTERNATIONAL.COMhe year started off with a bang for me,
our team and for the America’s Cup
community as a whole. In January, just
after we returned from the holidays, I
went to London to take part in an announcement
that could be a game-changer for the America’s Cup.
There we revealed a framework agreement
between the current teams that sets out most of the
conditions for the next two editions of the America’s
Cup, locking in a plan for the future in a way that’s
never happened before. Instead of the uncertainty
that would normally follow the final race in Bermuda
this summer, we already know the type of boat that
will be raced next time, plus the rules
and the timing of the next two Cups.
And we even have a plan for the
World Series. All that’s left to decide is
the location of the final matches, which
the new defending champion will get
to choose. But with everything else
laid out, all the stakeholders, from the
teams, to the sponsors, to the TV rights-
holders and future World Series venues,
know what happens next.
Let me give you a bit of background
to show you why this agreement is such
a big deal.
Unlike just about every other sport in the world,
when a team (and its yacht club) wins the America’s
Cup, they really win the America’s Cup – not just the
title, not just the trophy, but the rights to the next
event. Under the Deed of Gift, which was written
in the 1800s, the winner becomes the trustee of
the event and as such works with a challenger to
agree on a vision for the upcoming contest. Nearly
everything – the race’s location and timing, the class
of boat, whether there will be a World Series and how
it will count and the Youth America’s Cup – is open to
negotiation. All of this takes time and that means any
momentum gained from an exciting America’s Cup –Five competitors come together to set the
ground rules for America’s Cup events in
2019 and 2021 – that, says Jimmy Spithill,
is revolutionaryA framework
for the future
like we had in San Francisco in 2013, for example – can
evaporate during a one year vacuum.
This time, with more sailors in key management
roles and with guys such as Larry Ellison, Russell
Coutts and Martin Whitmarsh (Land Rover BAR
and ex Formula One) providing a push, we decided
to try to accelerate this process. We asked ourselves:
could we agree now about what we would do next
instead of waiting for the race to be over? If it sounds
like an obvious route to take, that’s because it is. To
be honest, it’s not the first attempt but in the past
the teams have always been too greedy in trying to
control the next event if they became the defender.
Ironing out this agreement was far from easy but we
all made compromises – and I give the team owners
a lot of credit for seeing the bigger picture.
I’m really excited we were able to get this across
the line. I think it means the America’s Cup has a
bright future no matter who wins. Well, almost. To
date, Emirates Team New Zealand hasn’t agreed to
come on board with this, for reasons it (at the time
of writing) hasn’t articulated. It is strange; as a team
that claims to rely on commercial sponsorship, you
would think the Kiwis would see this as a good thing.
Maybe they’ll come aboard in time. Meanwhile,
there are several potential new teams who already
see the benefit in what we’ve done and are lining up
campaigns for next time, which is encouraging.
Overall, to grow the event and the sport, we need
certainty, consistency and to improve the return on
investment for partners and owners. This framework
agreement does all of that and more. I think the
sailors who were part of this – Dean Barker, Ben
Ainslie, Iain Percy, Franck Cammas and myself – are
proud to have contributed to this agreement. We’re
glad to have it signed, sealed and delivered, so that
now we can go back to our day jobs – making boats fly
and trying to win the America’s Cup. B B“
I’m excited we
got this across
the line. It means
the America’s
Cup has a bright
future no matter
who wins”
T
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Jimmy Spithill (left)
and Sir Ben Ainslie
(right) are both
competing for
America’s Cup glory
in June380123456789ART
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