America's Cup firms up in Frisco

Much of the mystery surrounding the 34th America's Cup challenge was cleared up over the holiday period with the U.S. billionaire Larry Ellison finally announcing he will defend the Cup in San Francisco in September 2013.

It was always the natural choice but Ellison kept playing a cat and mouse game with the San Francisco city officials until they gave him a deal that will allow him to redevelop a huge slab of the city's disused commercial waterfront.

Despite handing over the development rights, the mayor reckons that his city will still make a fortune out of the domestic and foreign spectators expected to descend on the city in two years.

The field for the ragatta is still not to clear. The Golden Gate Yacht Club is the official defender but the defence is being run by Ellison's Oracle Racing (BMW dropped out of the team at the end of last year).

The challenger of record is the Club Nautic di Roma representing the Mascalzone Latino (Latin rascals) syndicate. Other challenges will be accepted up until March 31.

So far three other challenges have been accepted by the GGYC. Artemis Racing, reprsenting the Royal Swedish Yacht Club and with Cup veteran Paul Cayard at the helm, was first cab off the rank.

Second was Aleph Team France, representing a newly established club, the Aleph Yacht Club. While it might be a new boy in the world of French sailing, the team reckons they have $US70 million in funding lined up and have close links with sailing legends Bertrand Pace and Loick Peyron.

The surprise third challenger is YuuZoo Big Boat Australia Challenger which has yet to name the yacht club that will be its official challenger.

Successful maxi yacht sailor Ludde Ingvall announced his challenge just before setting off in the 2009 Sydney-Hobart race -- from which he was forced to withdraw after his yacht almost sank in Bass Strait after a hull fitting gave way in the middle of the night.

Another Australian syndicate, which won't be named yet but which has famed sailor Sir James Hardy spruking its wares, is also trying to raise local interest. Both Hardy's unnamed syndicate and Ingvall's challenger face the same problem -- money.

Shifting the boat used for the America's Cup to the new AC72 class catamaran was supposed to make the event cheaper but experts around the world still put the minimum cost of mounting a viable challenge at around $US50 million.

What Australia needs is for media and casino mogul James Packer to get over his infatuation with huge Italian gin palaces and show an interest in yachts. Wild Oats XI owner Bob Oatley, a keen sailor and five-time winner of line honours in the Sydney-Hobart race, says he has no interest in the America's Cup. "Why would I give them $50 million, just to have them come back a year later and want another $50 million," Oatley says.
The GGYC says it has a fourth unnamed team as a likely challanger but won't give any details.

Representatives of 24 teams from around the world attended a potential challengers meeting in Paris last October but the problems of designing, building and sailing an entirely new class of yacht have scared off many.

It is only $US25,000 to submit an entry -- but fees of several million dollars are due over the next 12 months as the smaller AC45 class yachts -- being built in New Zealand to accustom people sailing catamarans -- start sailing in regattas around the world.