“Wishes” come true for BMW/Oracle in Cup quest

In the wake of its successful appeal to the New York State Supreme Court, BMW/Oracle seems on track to shape the 33rd America’s Cup competition into a multi-challenger competition between multihulls.  BYM News analyzes what is shaping up to be one of the fastest, most complex races in history.

When teams that had previously entered AC33 were sounded out, to see if they would be interested in competing in a multi-challenger, multihull event, the first reactions must have disappointed BMW Oracle. Team New Zealand’s Grant Dalton said “In practical terms it’s completely impractical. No challenger will build a multihull to be involved.” Stefan Kandler, CEO of Areva, also dashed BMW Oracle’s multi-challenger hopes when he said it was a waste of time trying to involve other people in a multihull race.

That disappointment for BMW Oracle was, happily, also short lived for the French multihull world quickly showed that it did not share Kandler’s view, with encouraging approaches coming in from French teams that already have both sponsors and boats.

Read more…
By Ocean Navigator