Return to monohulls likely - Coutts

Oracle wins America's Cup

1 of 20

AP Zoom

CUP RUNNETH OVER: Kiwi Russell Coutts, chief executive of Oracle Racing, is all smiles at a press conference the day after after beating Alinghi 2-0 off Valencia, Spain, to complete his fourth win in the event.

Reuters

VICTORIOUS: Oracle's massive triamaran which has won the America's Cup against Alinghi off Valencia.

Related Links

Hi-tech glasses boost America's Cup's skipper's info Snow enters bizarre America's Cup calculations America's Cup chief race officer stands firm Oracle wins America's Cup Oracle promise multi-challenger America's Cup

Relevant offers

The monster multihulls might have taken sailing to another stratosphere off Valencia, but you can bank on a return to monohulls for the 34th America's Cup.

That was the message from victorious BMW Oracle Racing chief executive Russell Coutts after the US challenger used its wing-powered trimaran to overpower Alinghi's equally costly catamaran to win back the 159-year-old Auld Mug for the United States yesterday.

Alinghi's owner Ernesto Bertarelli threw the mono versus multihull debate back at the media after the Swiss were beaten by 5min 26sec to lose the Deed of Gift match 2-0 off Valencia.

"Why would you want to go slow?" the Italian-born Swiss billionaire asked.

Bertarelli's skipper/tactician Brad Butterworth waded into the big boat discussion later at Alinghi's press conference, saying he was a fan of staying in the multis.

"You could always go back to the classic monohull boat and I think the racing will be fine. But if you want more exciting stuff like we've shown we could probably have – and with time we could probably make the boats more reliable to sail in more wind or whatever – I think you would find it would be pretty exciting," Butterworth said.

But Coutts earmarked a return to traditional monohulls, with a boat able to plane downwind likely to replace the now relatively sluggish Version 5 boats used during the last multi-challenger America's Cup in 2007.

Coutts, who has now won the America's Cup four times for three different syndicates, said it was important Oracle reunited the sailing community after the bitter battle between his old boss Bertarelli and his very happy new one, Larry Ellison.

"I think we should reach consensus with the rest of the America's Cup world," Coutts said when asked if returning to monohulls would be a backward step.

"It would be irresponsible for one party to try and make a decision on behalf of everyone else. You have to put a lot of thought into these types of decisions because this is a 159-year-old trophy and we must look after it."

Oracle has accepted Mascalzone Latino Audi Team as the official Challenger of Record for the next America's Cup. The Italian team is owned by shipping magnate Vincenzo Onorato, a close friend of Ellison who has, no doubt, been handpicked to help restore relative peace to the always unpredictable America's Cup world.

Ellison promised an independent organising committee including an impartial jury and umpires, for the next multi-challenger event, agreeing it was important that there was a level playing field for all competitors to bring sponsors and fans back to sailing's pinnacle event.

"We're going to try and make decisions along with the rest of the America's Cup community to do just that, so we can attract sponsorship and funding for all of the teams that want to participate, not only BMW Oracle and Alinghi, but also the Chinese team and the South African team and the Swedish team and the New Zealand team," Ellison said. "If we do our job well and work closely with them, it should be the most popular America's Cup, the 34th America's Cup."

When and where America's Cup 34 is sailed remains a moot point. Newport, Rhode Island seems the frontrunner among a list of potential host cities that includes Valencia, San Diego and San Francisco, the home of the Golden Gate Yacht Club under whose flag Oracle races.

A 2013 event looks most likely too with 2011 too soon and 2012 clashing with the London Olympics.

What does seem certain is a further upgrading of the World Sailing Teams Association, which is set to roll into Auckland for the Louis Vuitton Trophy from March 9-21.

Ellison and Coutts were among the key major instigators of WSTA – along with Louis Vuitton's Yves Carcelle and Bruno Trouble and Team NZ boss Grant Dalton – when there seemed no end in sight to the litigious battle between Bertarelli and Ellison.

Neither Oracle nor Alinghi will sail in Auckland but Mascalzone Latino and their colourful owner are among the eight teams to have signed up for what will be the beginning of a hopeful new dawn for the America's Cup syndicates.

* Kent Gray, on assignment in Valencia for Fairfax Media, is editor of Boating NZ magazine.

- © Fairfax NZ News