Koch Calls for Several Changes in America’s Cup
Picture an America’s Cup with boats not only from San Diego but Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and other American cities, all competing to play host to the next defense.
That’s a big part of the picture Bill Koch tried to draw Wednesday night for members of the San Diego Yacht Club. Koch’s America 3 team retained the Cup for San Diego last year, and that’s the first thing he would like to change--the part about for San Diego.
Technically, the Cup is contested by yacht clubs, not countries. But from its inception in 1851, a club from the country where the Cup resided could not challenge for it but had to compete to defend it for the club that last won it: the New York Yacht Club from 1851 to 1983, the Royal Perth YC in 1986-87 and San Diego YC in 1988 and ’92.
Wednesday night, Koch proposed to allow San Diego to be trustee of the Cup as long as it remains in the United States but permit a successful defender from another city to buy the venue rights for $2 million.
If the venue were not up for grabs, he said, $30 million from corporate sponsors would be available to all potential defenders for the next defense in 1995.
If a successful defender also won the right to bring the America’s Cup races to its city, Koch said, corporations would kick in $60 million to $90 million because of the truly open competition and the chance to back a hometown boat.
Chuck Nichols, president of America’s Cup ‘95, said: “We have no intention of giving the next winner the option of taking the Cup to another venue. If that reduces the number of potential defenders, so be it.”
Koch also advocated eliminating secrecy and espionage--of which he was the leading practitioner--as well as limiting the entire competition to 60 days, conducting a defense every two years instead of the usual three to five, shortening and simplifying the race course, limiting sail inventories and restricting challengers to one boat apiece, while allowing the defenders to match the challengers’ aggregate of boats.
Fourteen challengers from nine countries have posted $75,000 entry fees and received approval.
The deadline for defenders is Monday, with only three potential entries scheduled for interviews: Dennis Conner, Olympic silver medalist Kevin Mahaney and the all-woman Pegasus syndicate of San Francisco led by Linda Corrado. Koch has not indicated whether he plans to enter the competition.