AC – Putting the Cat Among the Pigeons (No pun intended)

I have been trying to wrap my head around the latest twist and turns in the America's Cup saga and where it goes from here. Here is my take and I caveat that I am extremely un-expert in this area and I look forward to being corrected on every point. Bertarelli's open letter yesterday puts the cat among the proverbials . Today's NY Times summed it up nicely:

Bertarelli said he would consider giving up some of the traditional privileges of the defender, including an automatic spot in the America’s Cup match and the right to choose the site of the race, if the competition could be restructured into an Olympic-style event with a permanent governing body that would select the sites well in advance. “This idea that the winner takes all is very romantic and very attractive, but, on the other hand, it prevents a number of things from happening,” Bertarelli said in a telephone interview. “It prevents certainty that teams can survive from one cycle to the other. It prevents planning and negotiating venues ahead of time and therefore prevents the cycle from being a faster cycle than a four-year cycle or even more in some cases.”

So now what happens? Firstly, Bertarelli and Ellison duke it out under the supervision of the New York Yacht Club. If they agree to move these ideas forward, the New York Attorney General gets involved. This will take yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs to conclude.  In the meantime, BMW and Alinghi will be forced to race a court-ordered regatta in 2008.  I am sure that will be a huge success. Rule 69's point of view is that it's all about money. (Great post BTW). In my view that's only part of the story. It would be naive to assume that Bertarelli has been suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of extreme altruism. Rule 69's analogy to Bernie Ecclestone the Emperor of F1 is interesting. Bertarelli is no dummy. Two things are clear. Firstly, he cannot retain the Auld Mug - and therefore control over AC - forever. Changing  the structure so that it's more ...er democratic benefits Bertarelli for the day when he inevitably becomes a challenger. It's actually a canny judo move on Ellison if you think about it. I am sure Ellison would like nothing more than to be in Bertarelli's current shoes of running the show. He is basically saying to Ellison, "If I can't have it all my own way, you won't either if you win the Cup." Secondly, losing the ruling in November on who would be the official challenger was a clear signal that Bertarelli is no going to have it all his own way. I have to raise my hat to Bertarelli's smarts in attempting to regain the initiative. So my question is this - Is all this a bad thing? In the short-term, Absolutely - Yes. AC32 was a great success on many dimensions and not just commercial ones. It was very good for the sport of sailing. The tragedy of all this, is that the sport will lose momentum as AC33 could be as big a fiasco as the last time there was a court-ordered regatta (1988). Although, I have to say 50ft foilers will make bloody good TV. In the long-term, it could be a very good thing for sailing. The changes to the AC in the last few years have been  positive in opening it up. More competitors; new countries participating, much more racing, fleet racing, better media coverage, a fantastic location that made it possible for six million people to participate. This all great for sailing in raising its popularity. Sorry Magnus, I think you are being too one-sided. Yes it's a lot about money and yes it will suck for a few years, but it may not be all doom and gloom in the long-term. What do you think?