New Committee Formed to Plan ’91 Cup Race
Taking a big step toward a 1991 defense of the America’s Cup, the Sail America Foundation and the San Diego Yacht Club on Friday announced a major reorganization that, in essence, creates a new group in charge of the next Cup regatta.
The group, called the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, is a consolidation of several organizations that had a hand in San Diego’s America’s Cup race between Dennis Conner and New Zealand’s Michael Fay last September.
The consolidation separates Conner and his Stars & Stripes syndicate from the new organization, in hopes of removing any confusion about the relationship between Conner and Sail America.
Independent of Syndicates
Conner, a three-time America’s Cup winner, is expected to be influential on an informal basis, but the new committee will be independent of Conner’s Stars & Stripes or any other syndicate.
The committee also hopes to attract American syndicates other than Stars & Stripes to defend the Cup against a formidable array of foreign challengers, which now numbers 25. The committee, however, with leave fund raising to the syndicates themselves.
The committee’s 15-member board of directors will meet today for the first time. Representatives of naval architects throughout the world are in San Diego this weekend to discuss plans for a 75-foot vessel to be used by all contestants in the 1991 Cup race. A press conference is expected Sunday to announce agreement on the new yacht and to identify a proposed race course.
Board Members
The new board of directors, top heavy with San Diegans and San Diego Yacht Club members, includes people with political clout as well as sailing experts. The board includes representatives from the four organizations involved in last year’s Conner-Fay race, including the San Diego Yacht Club, Sail America, the America’s Cup Task Force and the America’s Cup Committee.
Members include: Malin Burnham, president of Sail America, who was named chairman of the new committee; county Supervisor Brian Bilbray; Bill Cleator, businessman and former San Diego City Councilman; Tom Fetter, owner of Kettenburg Marine in Point Loma; Kim Fletcher, chairman of Home Federal Savings & Loan Assn.; Dr. Fred Frye, a pediatrician; Lee Grissom, president of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce; Fritz Jewett, vice chairman of the board of Potlatch Corp. of San Francisco.
Also, Dan Larsen, a member of the Board of Port Commissioners; Gordon Luce, chairman of Great American First Savings Bank; Dr. Dave Neal, a member of the yacht club’s board of directors; Bill Packer, chief executive officer of Seaview Petroleum in Pennsylvania; Sandy Purdon, yacht club rear commodore; Gene Trepte, owner of Trepte Construction Co., and Dal Watkins, head of the Convention & Visitors Bureau. Serving as an unofficial member will be Patrick Goddard, the yacht club’s commodore.
Sail America’s staff, including administrator Tom Ehman, will staff the new committee.
Burnham said Sail America will exist only as a foundation and will be involved in activities beyond the America’s Cup.
The agreement between the San Diego Yacht Club and Sail America gives the new committee responsibility for managing the Cup event--including licensing of trademarks, advertising and the paying of bills--and the actual defense of the Cup, such as organizing competing American syndicates.
However, the San Diego Yacht Club “will retain for itself approval of the date and location for the match, and the ultimate selection of the defending yacht.”
Burnham touched on several topics during the wide-ranging press conference:
- The Lawsuit. He said that Fay’s continued court challenge--there remains a possibility a New York Court could order San Diego to forfeit the Cup to Fay--still haunts planning for 1991. For example, Burnham said, it appears competing syndicates will have to be scattered around the Bay rather than being grouped in one or two locations.
That’s because the San Diego Unified Port District is reluctant to act on funding as long as the lawsuit remains unresolved.
- Dennis Conner. He says that Conner has done for sailing what Arnold Palmer did for golf. “He is an established star and celebrity in a sport” that is just starting to appeal to a broader audience. Conner, he said, is in much demand by corporations as a motivational speaker.
- The Cost. Although it’s too early for precise budget calculations, Burnham said the expense of providing a “full-blown” defense--including designing and building boats, training and other costs--is probably in the range of $25 million to $30 million.
The cost of putting on the event, including providing various local facilities such as a press center, is estimated at $10 million to $12 million, he said.
The new committee will assume Sail America’s assets as well as debts. Sail America is now in debt, said Burnham, but he declined to say how large.
