- A winning combination for UK Team ? (01/25/01)
  (source : madforsailing)
With Ben Ainslie down in Auckland on America's Cup duty, Ian Walker has stepped in to take the helm of the IC45 Barlo Plastics for the opening regatta of the Clean Marine IC45 Winter Series 2001 in Palma de majorca. Commenting on his appointment, helmsman Walker said, " It is great to see the British Team on the water so early, with such a talented team of sailors."

Calling tactics for Walker will be Adrian Stead, who is running the Barlo Plastics campaign on behalf of the boat's new owner, telecoms entrepreneur Robert Condon. Stead's old Soling partner, Andy Beadsworth, is doing mainsheet whilst another Olympian, Tornado sailor Hugh Styles, makes his big boat debut as one of the trimmers.
a
Barlo Plastics IC 45 Crew List
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 Bow Mark Sheffield
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 Mast Brendan Darrer
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 Pit Kelvin Rawlings
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 Trimmer Richard Faulkner
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 Trimmer Hugh Styles
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 Cockpit Steve Dawson
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 Navigator Julian Salter
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 Main Andy Beadsworth
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 Helm Ian Walker
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 Tactician Adrian Stead
 

- The British Challenge is emerging - Part 2 (01/16/01)
  (source : sport.telegraph.co.uk)

Rumours are in the wind that the British are set to challenge for the America's Cup for the first time since 1987. A formal announcement is expected by the end of the month, but sources here, and in England say the the money is in place with sailors and designers being signed up.

The much publicised presence of two America's Cup yachts at Cowes week last year raised the profile of the Auld Mug in Britain. But it was the outstanding performance of the British Olympic sailors with three golds and two silvers which seem to have finally turned rumour of a challenge into fact.

Britain will be back in the America's Cup for the first time since 1987 with double Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker heading a sailing team, New Zealander David Barnes running the operations side (dominant 470 sailor of the early 1980s, and then part of both the 'Plastic Fantastic' New Zealand team in 1987, the subsequent 1988 Big Boat challenge and Fay's final throw in 1992, He then worked as a coach with One Australia in 1995, and America True in 2000).

The RNZYS Commodore, Peter Taylor, says the Brits have a campaign wallet containing around 12 million pounds, which means in New Zealand terms it is more than sufficient to run a good one boat campaign.

The British Challenge have signed up for a base in Auckland's Cup Village and will be backed by Peter Harrison, who sold his Chernikeeff internet systems company for more than £200 million reputedly slots in at number three on Britain's wealth list, his income last year recorded at 500 million NZ dollars) committed himself last October. He has supported British match racing, the Olympic trials and the 99 Admiral's Cup team, as well as endowing a £30 million foundation for disabled and disadvantaged sport.

Harrison has bought the two Nippon Challenge yachts, built for the 2000 America's Cup in Auckland, which had been marketed for $5 million. The pair, Asura and Idaten, were created by a team of technicians co-ordinated by hydrodynamicist Professor Hideaki Miata, of Tokyo University.

Some of those involved in the creation of the yachts may be part of a design committee to be run by Derek Clark, who did the same job for Peter de Savary's aborted Blue Arrow challenges of 1988 and 1992.

Other members of the design group are believed to be Ian Campbell and Hugues Welbourn, of the hugely respected Wolfson Unit of Southampton University,and the much under appreciated and free-thinking Jo Richards."

A formal announcement is expected by the end of the month.

In the same time, the America's Cup Jubilee, which will be staged this year at Cowes(Isle of Wight) was formally launched at the London Boat Show. The sailing mecca will be hosting the largest ever big boat regatta staged in this country to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Cup. It represents the entire history of the America's Cup Challenges and the fleet will include many original yachts or their replicas.

 

  Ben Ainslie joins OneWorld (12/26/00)
  (source : Elly & Madforsailing)
There is some dock talk concerning British Challenge and, particularly, a purchase of the "hardware and technology" from the defunct Nippon Challenge. But, in the same time, Ben Ainslie has now signed a deal with the One World America's Cup team led by Craig McCaw, which could see the Laser gold medallist helming in the next Louis Vuitton Cup.

Ainslie has been in talks with McCaw's Seattle-based outfit for several months and it has been known for some time that the syndicate skipper Peter Gilmour has been very keen to bring him on board. The One World team already includes a number of key former Team New Zealand sailors and some top Americans, among them Morgan Larson and the McKee brothers.

Ainslie had been waiting to see if a British America's Cup team would materialise, but decided he could wait no longer as negotiations on that front continue, and with the outcome in doubt. The crunch came after a five-day visit to Auckland where One World is already in business racing USA 55 and USA 51. Ainslie spent his first day on the mainsheet traveller and his second on the grinders before Gilmour gave him the steering wheels for the whole of the third day. It proved a memorable moment for the young Lymington-based star, who was impressed with the grace and power of the yachts and the challenge of assimilating all the information flowing through the afterguard.

When he got home, Ainslie discussed it again with his former Laser coach John Derbyshire and with Rod Carr, the secretary-general of the Royal Yachting Association who is organising the British bid, and decided to go for it. "With the residency application forms for foreign teams having to be filed before Christmas, it came to crunch time. I either went with them or stuck it out waiting for the British to go ahead," said Ainslie.

He said he was sad not to be involved with a British campaign which may be led by Star class silver medallist, Ian Walker. "I really hope the British thing does take off and, if it does, I'd be sad not to be part of that. But really there is a huge opportunity to learn from all the top people in the game at One World and it came to the point where I couldn't wait any longer."

Ainslie was tight-lipped about his renumeration but there can be little doubt that he will be handsomely rewarded by McCaw, whose syndicate will be one of the four big spenders in the next Louis Vuitton/America's Cup series. "It's a reasonable salary but at this stage in my career money is not the objective - it's all about learning and doing as much as I can to get to the top level," he said.

Ainslie is hoping he will get the chance to helm in the Louis Vuitton and even the America's Cup, but is realistic about his chances with tough competition expected within the One World syndicate for positions throughout all of its boats. "Helming is where my ability will be best used but it depends on the team and where they think I'd fit in best," he said.

The loss of the Laser gold medallist to a foreign team is a blow for the British effort, but in the long run the experience Ainslie will gain with One World could prove invaluable for Britain in future years. It is also doubtful whether Ainslie would have driven a British challenger, given the likely involvement of Andy Beadsworth in a British syndicate. In the meantime

Ainslie has to go and "live" in Seattle for a few months as he takes another big step out of Lasers. He will still fulfill his commitments in the Admiral's Cup but he is looking forward to getting back to Auckland for another taste of the big time. "I just learnt so much in the five days I was there - it was unbelievable," he said.
 

  Ben Ainslie with OneWorld ? (12/07/00)
  (source : Telegraph.co.uk)
Ben Ainslie 's first significant step out of his Olympic gold-medal winning Laser singlehander will be on to the helm of Robert Condon's 45-footer as part of the three-boat British Admiral's Cup team.

Ainslie will steer the boat alongside two-time Olympian Adrian Stead, who skippered the top-scoring Mumm 36 in the 1999 Admiral's Cup and this summer the Mumm 30 which became the first British yacht to win the Tour Voile round France race.

But whilst he waits to see whether an America's Cup bid does get off the ground in Britain, Ben Ainslie has a firm offer from Peter Gilmour to join the big budget OneWorld team from Seattle funded by Craig McCaw.
 
  The British Challenge is emerging - Part 1(10/31/00)
  (source : SundayTimes)
A group of millionaire businessmen are planning to launch the first British bid for 17 years. The men are confident they will be able to mount an entry in the next race, to be held in New Zealand in 2003. The bid would end the embarrassment of Britain's failure even to field an entry since 1986.
The men have bought four 1995 cup boats to be used for crew training and they wanted to use this opportunity to raise the profile of the America's Cup within the UK :
- John Caulcutt (who is an old Harrovian former market-stall holder who has made his fortune through his marketing company, Watermark, and is a business associate of Richard Branson. He competed in the Olympics on a bobsleigh, plays lead guitar with his rock band, and is a larger-than-life figure in the sailing world) has bought Young America 1995 (USA-36) be renamed Right Time ;
- Tag Heuer (NZL 39 - be renamed About Time) has been bought from America True by Oyster Marine's (a yacht-building company) Richard Matthews ;
- France II and France III (French Team 1995) have been bought with the French Company Stardust by Chris Gordon (who received about £6m when Sunsail International, his flotilla holiday company, was bought by First Choice last year).

The men hope to secure funding for the project by the end of this year, to enable them to start building a 75ft race boat by the middle of next year.

"It will be a David and Goliath challenge - there are some hugely affluent syndicates involved, so it would take two or three America's Cups to be in a position to win," said Matthews. "It's like Formula One - it would be naive to think that having been out of it for so long, you could come back in and rival Ferrari or Maclaren in your first season."

While wealthy in their own right, the men will need to secure sponsorship to raise the minimum £10m - or more realistically, £15m - required.
The group hopes to recruit its crew from the new Olympic sailing stars, taking the sport's image away from navy blazers and pink gin. Ian Walker, who won a silver in Sydney in the Star class, said last week he was eager to take part.
 
  News from the British Challenge (10/27/00)
  (sources : BoatMagic & Yahoo.com)
Sources close to British America's Cup hopes are tight lipped on the subject, though the current rumours doing the rounds, all of them remarkably consistent, are that the campaign will be backed by Dimension Data, previously Chernikeef, who has given substantial backing to British yachting in the past. A formal announcement is expected at the end of October.

It's necessary because time is running out for a British America's Cup bid as the nation's top sailors threaten to quit these shores to join a foreign effort for the 2003 regatta.

Ben Ainslie, Britain's gold medallist Laser sailor, watched with interest as Team New Zealand romped undefeated to Americas Cup victory in Auckland this February and he wants a piece of the action. But with no one on hand to front a British syndicate, Ainslie has revealed that he is poised to sign for an American challenge. "I've had an offer from an American team, but I've not signed up to it," said Ainslie ahead of Friday's 2000 Chernikeeff RYA National Match Racing Championship Finals. "I am biding my time to see if a British challenge is going to be involved. But it needs to happen now, it is only a matter of weeks before a decision must be made. "I am ready to go to a foreign syndicate to gain the experience and if there is no British involvement, I probably will have to.".
Ainslie's fellow Sydney gold medallist, single-handed Europe sailor Shirley Robertson, suggested she would also be keen to be involved in an Americas Cup, but warned that she may not defend her Olympic title in Athens. "I'd love to do an Americas Cup," said Robertson, Scotland's first female Olympic champion for 80 years. "But I've got no plans. I'm very cautious about saying that I'm going to do the Games again in 2004. It's a four-year commitment, and I'm still on a high and enjoying the partying".
 
  America's Cuppers Press Conference (10/25/00)
 (source : Bermudagoldcup)
Yesterday, Skippers from most of the confirmed teams for the next America's Cup (Ed Baird, Dean Barker, Dennis Conner, Russell Coutts, Chris Dickson, Peter Gilmour, Andy Green, Chris Larson & James Spithill) attended a "State of the America's Cup" press conference at the Royal Bermuda Yacht.
In a relaxed, hour-long genial exchange they traded quips, revealed a few secrets and agreed that the next America's Cup regatta would lift the stature of the event to a new plateau.
Dennis Conner told that he is close to completing an agreement with the New Yorkers to sail under their banner at the next challenge in New Zealand in 2003. Queried if he would challenge next time from the New York Yacht Club, Conner revealed that he wanted to represent New York in Fremantle in 1987 and in Auckland last year. "I've had two unsuccessful bids, you might say, to represent the club," he said. "It would be a nice dream for me to win the Cup and bring it back to New York and the trophy room at the New York Yacht Club. It would be nice closure. While it might be a dream, I would relish the chance for it to be reality."
Briton Andy Green talked about his plans for a British challenge, but admitted he needed a major backer. Green said he and British sailors had spent a great summer sailing that country's two IACC boats in Cowes. "There was a lot of positive feeling, but feeling unfortunately doesn't get you to the America's Cup," he noted wryly. "The British sailing team at the Olympics did an amazing job," he added. "They got three gold medals and two silvers. I'm hoping that will encourage a few people with some serious money to get involved."
Magnus Holmberg from Sweden revealed that he had just signed up to skipper Sweden's Victory Challenge (see article). Holmberg said Argentinian designer German Frers who helped start Italy's Prada Challenge last time would design the Swedish boats.
Peter Holmberg, from the US Virgin Islands, sat at the opposite end of the table from Ed Baird, and like Baird, acknowledged he had no concrete Cup plans.
 
  Ian Walker targets America's Cup (10/04/00)
  (source : bbc)
Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker wants Britain's sailors to be chasing America's Cup glory in three years' time. "The America's Cup is a platform British sailing has not been able to compete in for more than 10 years," said Walker (who finished runners-up in the star class with Mark Covell in Sydney).

"I feel we have given them the biggest boost possible by returning from the Olympics with a hat-full of medals and having given sailing a major profile boost in Britain".

On the other hand, Walker said that olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie has received a number of offers to join foreign crews for the next challenge.