Cup Shouldn’t Compete With Games, Officials Say

The America’s Cup defenders and the television network that will air the competition said Tuesday that pitting the regatta against the Summer Olympics would be bad for its spectators, competitors and TV ratings.

“I think it would be in everybody’s best interest to have the event staged at a time when there isn’t such a grand spectacle like the Olympics going on,” said Chris LaPlaca, a spokesman for the ESPN network.

Sail America, the syndicate that manages the defending boat for the San Diego Yacht Club, will meet this week with the New Zealand challenger, Michael Fay, to try to negotiate a change in the start date, which is Sept. 19.

“Michael and I yesterday expressed our willingness and desire to schedule the event at some time that wouldn’t conflict with the Olympics,” Tom Ehman, executive vice president of Sail America, said Tuesday.

“We’ll meet (Wednesday) and (possibly) Thursday and by the end of the week have a definite date,” Ehman said. “Right now, I’m hopeful and confident we’ll have a different date.”

But Sail America’s eagerness to reschedule the race may not be matched by New Zealand, which used a court challenge to force San Diego to race earlier than the planned multinational competition in 1991.

“It’s one of the issues that goes on the table,” New Zealand spokesman Graeme Colman said. “That’s the official date, unless there is mutual consent on moving it.

“We’re assessing our position. We’ve got to assess more than just the Olympics. The timing of the race is critical to every component of the campaign.

“We’re actually here to win the America’s Cup,” Colman added.

Ehman characterized the 137-year-old America’s Cup competition as one of the “big three” international events, along with World Cup soccer and the Olympics.

“It’s unfair to the general public to see two of the three major sporting events go head to head,” Ehman said. “And the sailors, too, deserve their day in the sun. Both New Zealand and Stars & Stripes guys have been giving it their all . . . training under very difficult circumstances in brand-new technologies.