America's Cup changes forever

The America's Cup competition, as a battle between countries and yacht clubs for the bragging rights of holding the world's oldest sporting trophy, is gone forever. The country-wide fascination that gripped Australia when Alan Bond won the AmCup in 1983 and the disappointment when we lost it in 1987 will never be seen again.

The new rules and boat type announced on Monday by Russell Coutts, the CEO of cup holder BMW Oracle, mean the regatta will become a diversion for the iPad generation run by privately-owned franchises like those that control American football and baseball teams.

Yachts have gone, to be replaced by 72 foot solid-wing catamarans. Coutts says the change will make the AmCup "cool" and encourage young sailors brought up kite sailing and sailboarding to have a go.

The new vessels, known as AC72s, will sail in wind speeds between 3 and 33 knots to prevent races being postponed or cancelled -- something that television broadcasters will no longer tolerate.

Just how the challenger for the first AC72 regatta in 2013 (at a place still to be named but likely to be San Francisco or somewhere in Italy) will be selected is still to be announced. The challenger series will be run by Vincenzo Onorato, the president of Mascalzone Latino, the official challenger of record.

The protocol Coutts released when he announced the new boat and the time of the next regatta, all but eliminates any input or control by the Golden Gate Yacht Club -- the club that officially holds the 150-year-old trophy.

There will be no nationality clause for either the sailors or the designers of the new catamarans, which makes the new requirement that competing yachts carry on their mainsail a large rendition of the national flag of the country of the yacht club they represent seem rather stupid. There need not be a single American aboard the BMW Oracle defender -- which is likely to be skippered by Aussie Jimmy Spithill.

Onorato says the new catamarans will make the event cheaper -- but it will still not be easily affordable. Challenging teams have to lodge two "performance bonds" of $US1.5 million each just to be in the running and then pay 1 million Euros each as an entry fee. If they fail to turn up for a race the bonds will be forfeit.

However, if the regatta makes a profit, monies will be paid back to the defending and challenging syndicates.

Coutts was at pains to point out that the America's Cup needed to get from the "Flintstones generation" to the "Facebook generation" and capture a share of the international market now held by Formula 1 racing and Nascar racing in the US. He said that if the catamaran regatta is a success he thinks the America's Cup competition will continue as a travelling grand prix circuit, competing in half a dozen regattas a year across the globe, with the teams owned as franchises like professional football, baseball and basketball teams in the US.

The location of the 2013 America's Cup regatta should be announced before Christmas.

As yet there is no indication that an Australian syndicate will challenge. Check out AmericasCup.com for the official event website.

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