So the Italians and Neozeds voted against this change?
Yes, and they didn't hide it.
As announced before, in case of victory of the yes, the Italians of Luna Rossa have given up this AC35th and have thrown in the towel. Perhaps they were upset to have scuppered the whole thing by refusing the role of COR, but they are convinced that a cup on beach gear is not only not the vision they have, but above all not a Vuitton. The class of Vuitton, the dream of Prada. Fortunately, the vote of those who still dream is not influenceable. All said, ciao, Luna Rossa.
On the Neozed side, it is less simple. At the same time that Team New Zealand (TNZ) was supporting Luna Rossa, 15 days before the vote, the Defender included in the upcoming vote, a new change under the guise of "cost-cutting": the cancellation of the heats in Auckland to run everything in Bermuda. This not only ignores a previous agreement between Oracle and TNZ, but above all it removes the basis of TNZ's funding: the Auckland region has always said that it would only partly fund TNZ if the qualifying races were held there.
Having already eliminated one serious competitor, the Defender set about eliminating the next. Without financial support from his city, TNZ disappears. The kiwis therefore claimed, in accordance with the protocols (the old and the new) to the "Arbitration Pannel" arguing the non-compliance of this change. They rely on the rule 4.1 of the initial gauge that requires unanimity of votes, to be changed.
The Arbitration Panel is composed of 3 members not yet appointed. Not only will a Panel appointed after the fact, and after the registration deadline (May 1, 2015) have no choice but to be inadmissible, but there is no reason why the Defender should not give up the lobbying that is to voting, what yin is to yang.
TNZ is going to have a hard time surviving this Defender attack.
Does Auckland have that much interest in making the playoffs?
Yes, it is! And it's not just about the money.
It's a whole country behind TNZ, it's a whole region that works because of The Cup. A March 2014 independent study by Me.spatial shows, in US dollars at the time, that for a $36 million investment over 4 years in TNZ for the AC34th, the Auckland region recouped $87 million in taxes over the same period. TNZ has generated the equivalent of 1,220 jobs per year in local industry and has allowed the city to increase its value by 142% over 4 years. Since those who collect them do not pay any taxes, it is net of taxes on a cup that is not even run in their country. Good calculation, Kiwi policy makers.
This explains why the Bermudas are pushing the Defender to have ALL the races in their country.
But why did Artemis and BAR vote for such small one designs?
Because Ian Percy and Ben Ainslie are the kings of the one-design.
The two leaders of these teams come from the Olympic world of one-design sailing in which they have more than shone. Iain Percy, the Englishman from Artemis, had some painful setbacks with his design team in the last edition (death of Andrew Simpson). Sir Ben Ainslie sailed on dangerous and not fast enough boats, designed by Oracle on the 34th. It is the hard work of the shore team and the sailors who have mainly won the last Cup on badly born boats, because badly designed. It wouldn't take much to make them decide to sail one-designs.
The first "not much", arrived on February 15, 2015, in San Francisco at the Artemis base, in the form of an AC48' from the Oracle Core Builders yard. An AC48' is recognizable because it looks like an AC45' with steering wheels and two winch columns. Here's a link for the disbelievers (visible at the bottom of the page).
It's hard not to see cause and effect. A second "no big deal", should arrive before the summer, from Core Builders in the form of an AC48' in Porstmouth at BAR.
What about the French vote?
Yin came in another form.
Like a familiar refrain since 1972, Team France is either short of funds or short of funds in the time allotted to spend them. In any case, they don't have the funds to get an AC48' Core Builders. The "not much" has taken the form of a technical collaboration with the Defender's design team, announced on April 15. Exsanguinated, Team France is going to look for the weapon to beat the enemy. The winner is known in advance.
Not having a COR gives the Defender too much power. There is no reason why he shouldn't use it.
By announcing, on April 24, the purchase of the rights to the AC35th, Canal Plus is playing its role as a major financer of sports in our country. It is not sure that this will allow Team France to find the $1.9 million needed to register before May 1st.
