Coutts: Six Or Seven Teams For America’s Cup
The 2017 America’s Cup will feature six or seven yachts, race director Sir Russell Coutts told AFP, adding that a “probable new Asian entry will be announced next month.”
Right now there are five teams scheduled to compete: defending champion Oracle Team USA, Artemis Racing from Sweden, Ben Ainslie Racing from Great Britain, Emirates Team from New Zealand, and Team France.
Originally six teams were due to compete, however the Italian team Luna Rossa recently withdrew in protest over rule changes which will involve smaller boats being used as a cost saving measure, dropping from 62 feet to 45-50 feet.
“Since the launch of the AC45 turbos [with foils], people have realised that these boats, much smaller than the AC72, are fast and good for TV,” Coutts told AFP. “With the AC48, budgets are less important. To be a decent player, if you’re starting today, you need around 20 to 30 million US dollars.”
Sir Russell Coutts speaking at an America’s Cup press conference in Bermuda earlier this year:
“In 2013, Emirates Team New Zealand had a budget of around 180 million NZ dollars [$135 million US]. But you have to be smart about the way you are going to spend your money. But money is not the only factor and it’s not always the richest team which wins the Cup”.
Coutts said a realistic number of teams competing in 2017 would be “six or seven, including one or two Asian teams,” telling AFP that ”one of them will be announced next month. The official list will be published before summer.”
