Ben Ainslie: Bermuda Is Better For The Purists
“There are pros and cons to each as far as hosting the actual America’s Cup is concerned. Bermuda is probably better for the purists with San Diego offering more commercial potential,” Sir Ben Ainslie said in a column for the UK’s Telegraph.
The elite sailor also said that the venue for 2017 — which will be either Bermuda or San Diego — “should be confirmed in October.”
While the venue has not yet been decided, the entrants have, with six teams set to complete for the 35th America’s Cup, with the defending champion Oracle Team USA to be challenged by Artemis Racing from Sweden, Ben Ainslie Racing from Great Britain, Emirates Team from New Zealand, Luna Rossa Challenge from Italy as well as Team France.
The English sailor has been to Bermuda before, and is pictured below at sailing clinic last year:
When the Olympic medalist launched his America’s Cup challenge he said, “This is the last great historic sporting prize never won by Great Britain. It has always been my ambition to mount a home challenge.
“The time is right and I am hugely encouraged by the support we are getting, not least from the Duchess of Cambridge. I learned a great deal aboard Oracle in San Francisco and I would not be challenging if I did not believe we have a real chance of winning this time.”
His column for the Telegraph said, “We had the official America’s Cup launch in London at the start of last week, which was interesting. It was the first time all the teams had got together; the first chance for the skippers to really eyeball each other.
“I’m not suggesting we were like boxers sizing each other up but there was a certain frisson, particularly between Jimmy Spithill [Oracle Team USA] and Dean Barker [Team New Zealand] after all the ructions that went on in the 34th America’s Cup.”
Benainslieracing.com lists the map below as the proposed America’s Cup Race Course in Bermuda:
Ainslie continued on to say, “As well as the important discussions aimed at keeping costs down, the next big step is nailing down a venue for 2017, with should be confirmed in October. Bermuda and San Diego are on the shortlist although it is likely both venues will be used at some point, with one hosting some build-up races and the other the finals.
“There are pros and cons to each as far as hosting the actual America’s Cup is concerned. Bermuda is probably better for the purists with San Diego offering more commercial potential.”
The venue for the 2017 America’s Cup has yet to be announced, with Bermuda along with San Diego on the organisers’ short list. Regardless of the outcome of the venue choosing process, Bermuda is already set to host an America’s Cup World Series racing event.
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- Ainslie: British Team Prefers Bermuda For Cup - Bernews.com : Bernews.com | November 26, 2014
Hope Bermuda gets it!
we have to get it….by that I mean everyone has to buy into the event hook line sinker….we can’t afford service outages, bad attitudes, and god forbid conveniently scheduled industrial action just to make the govt. look bad. I hope we all can just put our junk in the trunk and reap the benefits on all levels from hosting this event. or am I asking too much of some organizations?
I can not see any reason why Bermuda could not put up the semi final trophy ” THE BERMUDA CHALLENGER TROPHY ”
Show picture of it to the world front page.
We have show to world what BERMUDA is made of.
We are ready to go sailing and have a lot of fun.
Design a Bermuda banner.
Design a car flag.
Design a Bermuda Burgee.
Print new shopping bags.
Design a new Hat.
Design a new souvenir
Design a new “T” shirt
I saw a film by the ariel vidio guys…get them to post a vid of the island for the amaricas cup team… makes the island look fantastic…
Go for it OBA.