Yachts & Yachting — March 2018

F

orgive me for harping on

about the America’s Cup

but it is the biggest event in

the calendar. Its only rival

could be the Admiral’s Cup

• if it were revived. The Australians
  have shown that the very name of
  that competition strikes a chord
  with the regatta they recently held to
  commemorate the 50th anniversary
  of that country’s involvement with
  the bi-annual competition. They
  had boats from that country’s teams


• 21 of them – and they raced for
  three days on Sydney Harbour.
  From those present the message
  was quite simply: “We want to race
  the Admiral’s Cup again.” And that
  message is heard elsewhere in the world;
  it’s not just the Australians that would
  like to see the premier offshore event
  revived. There are those in America and
  Europe that would welcome its return.
  What appears to be the problem is
  sponsorship of the event. We are all
  aware that Rolex sponsors the Fastnet
  Race, the concluding race of the series,
  so any other timing sponsor would
  be in competition and that would
  be anathema to both the RORC and
  Rolex. I believe that the RORC would
  desperately like Rolex to expand its
  sponsorship beyond the Fastnet and
  into a revived Admiral’s Cup, but Rolex
  made it perfectly clear that while it is
  big enough and rich enough, it is only
  interested in successful, high-value
  sponsorship opportunities, like Formula
  One, which, incidentally, reportedly costs
  them in excess of £50 million per year.
  The return on this is enormous and one
  can perhaps understand why Rolex is
  not interested in grass roots projects.
  One can therefore begin to understand
  why RORC is dubious about approaching
  Rolex to sponsor the revival of the
  Admiral’s Cup, and how difficult it
  would be without sponsorship.
  However one group, that must remain
  nameless for the present, that is trying
  to help the situation, deals with the
  global division of Rolex sponsorship,

A 50th anniversary regatta held Down Under has revealed huge enthusiasm

to revive the other big ‘A’ cup – but doing so would need a sponsor

Bob Fisher

OPINION

clashing with it. The Admiral’s Cup

captured the minds and efforts of

sailors in the past and would do it

again now. Please can we see the hopes

and plans of its supporters realised?

Meanwhile the America’s Cup is

almost in a stationary mode as far

as the general public is concerned.

There will not be any official

pronouncements until the end of March

but speculation continues to be rife.

Emirates Team New Zealand, having

returned the Cup to the country, might

have expected considerable support

from the New Zealand Government,

but so far the financial contributions

and promises are nowhere near enough

to develop the site for more than eight

teams (and that includes the Defender).

That could be enough. So far, after the

Challenger of Record with its Luna Rossa

team, there are few definite challenges –

Land Rover BAR from Britain, the New

York Yacht Club syndicate – and also a

few that are not raising their heads above

the parapet – a second Italian challenge,

from Mascalzone Latino (Vincenzo

Onorato), one from the west coast of

the USA, and one from Australia that is

more spoken about than showing its face.

With just those, the facilities could cope.

But there is bound to be more

before entries close on 30 June this

year (late entries could be lodged by

31 December): there always are.

Some teams are already more

prepared than others and I rate

ETNZ as one of those. No doubt its

technical team has already progressed

with its foil shapes and mechanisms

for the AC75 and some of its other

departments are ahead of the game.

I admired, however, the latest move

of Land Rover BAR. It has announced

that it has made its rigging technology

available. It will provide technical

assistance as well as the hardware

for those seeking high end running

and standing rigging for their craft.

It will keep its rigging department

fully occupied until the first boat

is launched from Portsmouth.

One of the biggest

names in yachting

journalism, Bob

Fisher has a passion

and depth of

knowledge that’s

second to none

rather than the domestic team that

dealswiththeFastnetRace.Thismight

betheanswerifthetwosidescould

meet and talk it through. I admit to

being biased, but the two-week long

eventinoddyearsdoesseemtohave

the possibility of wide international

coverage,bothinprintandontelevision.

And while I am reaching back into

my memory, I’m sure that when last

held it was the Champagne Mumm

Admiral’s Cup. Why have the sparkling

days come to a close? Perhaps Mumm

(now part of LVMH) would like to

step up to the plate. And that LVMH

connection has a resonance in sailing,

but Louis Vuitton is no longer connected

with the America’s Cup and its

sponsorship division might entertain

a query about the other big ‘A’ cup.

The event could be put together for

2019, but it would need some impressive

moves to confirm that date. The world

(of sailing) wants it and it has nothing

There are those in America

and Europe who’d welcome the

return of the Admiral’s Cup

Above

There was a

good turnout

for the regatta

celebrating

50 years since

Australia was

involved with the

Admiral’s Cup

NIGEL SHARP

March 2018 Yachts & Yachting 13