America’s Cup Challengers could face big changes

A New Zealand journalist has reported on possible dramatic changes in format. The report suggests that each challenger would host an America’s Cup World Series in their country, taking financial “ownership.” These regattas would serve as an elimination series, with only the top four teams advancing to the challenger selection regatta in San Francsico (or wherever the final venue is) to be sailed in July 2017, before the America’s Cup Match in August.

Remember that in the 34th America the defender organized and financed the America’s Cup World Series and selected the cities – Cascais, Plymouth, Naples, Venice, Newport, San Diego and San Francisco – and that the AC World Series did not count towards the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The report gave no details on timing to define a new class of boat and then to have them ready to race in an America’s Cup World Series that would begin in 2015. Nor did it address the problem for challengers of finding sponsorship with no guaranty of particpating in the main event. There was also no word on how the defender would participate in this series and how that could determine which teams were eliminated before the final challenger selection races in 2017.