ASdTorrevieja Information - tourist guide: BMW Oracle easily wins the America’s Cup leaving Valencia as the big loser

BMW Oracle easily wins the America’s Cup leaving Valencia as the big loser
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Keith Nicol on 15 February, 2010 10:34:00

Those that visited Valencia to grab a glimpse of either yacht, could only be
impressed by the size, shape and technology that has moved the America’s Cup
from a mono-hull competition to a multi-hull event.

Congratulations to US software magnate Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle team who swept
to an easy victory in the best of three series to win the America’s Cup. After
30-months of wrangling in US courtrooms for the right to race head-to-head with
America’s Cup defender Alinghi, backed by biotechnology tycoon Ernesto
Bertarelli, BMW Oracle proved to the sailing community that they did indeed have
the fastest boat and one that deserved to win the America’s Cup.
Those that visited Valencia to grab a glimpse of either yacht, could only be
impressed by the size, shape and technology that has moved the America’s Cup
from a mono-hull competition to a multi-hull event. Detractors would say that
the series should have stayed as a mono-hull competition but technology and the
need for speed, has moved on and, these innovations are certainly the shape of
things to come in modern hull design. But, in terms of the America’s Cup, the
competition has certainly lost much of its charm and only time will tell if the
next competition will be able to attract as much interest as the series did back
in 2007.
In an interview with the BBC, Professor Tom Cannon, from the University of
Liverpool Management School perceives the America’s Cup as an event that "has
been reduced from a very major event to a minor one." He noted that "There is an
enormous contrast between what happened three years ago and now. Then, it was an
enormous event, and it was the third-largest sporting event after the football
World Cup and the Olympics in terms of gross economic impact. Now we have gone
from a sport worth billions to the local economy, yachting in general and in
terms of technological development, to a sideline event."
In terms of pure sailing and design, BMW Oracle certainly lead the way for
others to follow and everyone else in the sailing world will probably be heading
back to their drafting boards to look at new designs. It’s estimated that the
overall cost to each team was in the region of $200 million and typically, much
of this would be covered by sponsorship from major companies. Professor Cannon
emphasised that because of the lack of a challenger series, which last time
attracted eleven challengers from 9 countries along with major sponsorship
opportunities, the overall economic impact was probably about one tenth of the
5bn euros ($7bn; £4.4bn) it was worth last time. The long-weekend event was not
a draw for TV Companies or advertisers, with the races being shown on the
Internet for the first time and the organising budget reduced from a record
230-million to just eight million euros for last week’s event!
The host city of Valencia was possibly the biggest loser, in terms of what might
have been. The 2007 event was a major attraction for tourists, sponsors,
clients, business and the media bringing benefits of over two billion euros to
the port and almost four billion euros net economic benefit for Valencia. This
year, coverage on Spanish TV was very limited and with the event now finished,
Carnival fiestas from Rio, the Canaries and around Spain totally eclipsed the
couple of minutes seen about the America’s Cup.
Great Britain last entered a yacht back in 1964 and are planning on doing so
again through the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Team Origin, who are mounting the
challenge received a boost last week as Virgin Group chairman and avid sailor
Sir Richard Branson, said that he would consider funding a challenge if they
find themselves without a sponsor. Spain also have their own team ready to
prepare for the next event and will be hoping that next time round all teams
will have the opportunity to challenge for the America’s Cup.
Keith Nicol