‘This America’s Cup dispute could lead down a difficult alley’ – Matt Sheahan

It’s getting feisty in the America’s Cup as defender and challengers dispute the draft protocol for the 38th America's Cup

Unsightly and unnecessary public spat that has little to do with sailing… or another example of the extraordinary lengths some teams will go to win the America’s Cup?

Whatever your view, the recent public exchanges between the Defender and the Challenger of Record are illustrations of how the Cup’s capacity to both incense and entertain also demonstrate how much the Auld Mug means to those who want it in their trophy cabinet.

One thing is clear, the 38th America’s Cup has started. The trouble is that the dispute could lead the next cycle down a difficult alley with the risk of yet another Cup re-set.

By the time you read this, things may have developed further – hopefully for the better with both sides getting on. But the dialogue has been getting feisty.

On the face of it, the proposed format for the next America’s Cup in the draft protocol as released by the Kiwis had several interesting new aspects.

The next generation of AC75s will have no cyclors or grinders and rely solely on electric power. The crew will be reduced from eight to six and will include a female sailor and an under-25-year-old. A seventh position would be available too as a guest slot.

It’s also proposed there will be a spending cap of €60million, around half of what was previously spent.

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But perhaps one of the biggest and most significant changes this time around is the formation of the AC Partnership (ACP) where the Defender, the Challenger of Record and ‘other prospective AC38 competitors’, agree to work collaboratively to create the next America’s Cup. The responsibility of this group includes the format of racing, the commercial rights, the selection of host cities and so on.

And while I’m led to believe there have been plenty of contentious issues during the negotiation of the yet-to-be-signed new Protocol, it was this area that seemed to be at the heart of the recent terse statements from both sides.

The announcement of Naples as the venue for the next America’s Cup came before the Challengers had formally agreed it (normally the venue is revealed after the Protocol has been agreed as this sets out the overall format of the event). So, given the new ACP arrangement where all parties were responsible for the venue, three of the Challengers – Athena Racing, American Magic and Alinghi – voiced their concerns that the Defender wasn’t playing by the draft rules that they were still working on.

There’s more detail in the dispute, but my suspicion is that the Challengers’ reactions are an indication of a broader concern over how the Defender is behaving this early in the Cup cycle and that they need to nip this in the bud.

For me, the bigger issue is the way in which this dispute has polarised the teams. On one side are the British – as Challenger of Record – the American and Swiss teams. On the other the Kiwis, the Italians – who are understandably delighted at the prospect of a home Cup – and the French who admit that competing closer to home makes things a lot easier.

But what if this dispute deepens and the two sides dig in?

You can do pretty much anything with mutual agreement in the Cup but when cooperation runs out the backstop is the basic rules as set out in the America’s Cup Deed of Gift.

As we know from 2010 when agreement couldn’t be reached for the 33rd America’s Cup after the hugely successful previous one in Valencia, a DoG match can be pretty expensive. It can also mark a design re-set where teams go back to a clean sheet of paper.

For the Kiwis this would be a big risk, both financially and in relinquishing control over the rules that has helped them achieve their phenomenal success over the last three Cup cycles.

Statements over the last few weeks from the Challenger of Record’s camp suggest they are already collaborating. And it seems likely they could have much deeper pockets when working together to fund an arms race.

Today we have an AC75 rule that has plenty of life in it with boats that are at the leading edge, and racing that is getting closer with each iteration. To lose that now would remove the stability for the next Cup cycle – and if there’s one thing that holds back investment it’s uncertainty.

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