ACM Expected to Announce Pre-Regatta Dates March 16
3/05/04

by Félix García

The organizer of the 32nd America’s Cup, AC Management, has been working in Valencia to establish the 2004 racing schedule and the dates for meetings to be held in Valencia with the new teams.

ACM will inform the teams and the public March 16th of the selected cities for the "Pre-Regattas" to be held this fall.  Valencia, host of the next defense in 2007, has already been named as one site, and target dates for all three events have been released (September 5-12, September 25-October 3, and October 17-23), but the two remaining locations are yet to be determined.

The announcement will be made at the Louis Vuitton Museum in Paris, where ACM is expected to reveal the details of the three 2004 events.

This official announcement should provide several surprises. Valencia’s pre-regatta, which had been tentatively planned (although officially unconfirmed) for September 5-12, will likely exchange those dates for one of the two later slots on the fall schedule. The goal of this shuffling is to avoid the "Gota Fria", the heavy seasonal rains that typically happen in autumn in Valencia.

Though the other two cities chosen to hold the 2004 Pre-Regattas are not known, it is supposed by some in Valencia that one will be in the north of Europe and one in the south. It is also believed that one of the cities could be a venue passed over by ACM’s selection of Valencia for the America’s Cup match.

David Gallego, Director of Institutional Relations for ACM in Spain, said the Cup´s organizers have spoken with 24 possible challenger candidates regarding participation in the 2007 Cup, but no more than the half of these teams will likely take part.  According to Gallego, ACM is going to work on encouraging participation from other markets, including the Middle-East and Asia.  Team registration is open until April 2005.

The first meeting of interested teams for the 32nd Defense will take place April 5-8.  At that time, ACM will release details about the marketing plan for the event, the services that will be provided to the teams, and the challenger bases to be located in the 'Balcón del Mar'.

Félix García is a journalist living in Valencia, Spain.