Site of the Defense:  The Road to Valencia

History of the Selection Process

Moving the Feast
Although it has been an unbroken tradition that the Defender faces the Challenger on the Defender's home waters, Switzerland does not have an appropriate site to stage the open water sailing matches that make up America's Cup racing.  Alinghi announced that they would choose a location elsewhere in Europe, marking the only time the America's Cup will be defended in a different country from the yacht club that possesses it.

(Strictly speaking, under the Deed of Gift the Cup matches could be held anyplace mutually agreed upon by the Defender and Challenger, including the Swiss lakes.  Only the absence of mutual agreement would trigger the elements of the Deed concerning such criteria as "ocean courses, free from headlands.")

SNG/Alinghi formed an America's Cup Management, Ltd., (ACM) entity, headed by Michel Bonnefous, charged with arranging and conducting the regatta, including selecting and negotiating for the venue.  Reflecting the ambition of Ernesto Bertarelli's vision for the America's Cup, ACM contracted the Algoé Consultants group, whose clients include the International Olympic Committee and the World Cup Organization, to support the venue decision analysis and assist in the negotiation process.

Short-List, Long-Wait
Reportedly as many as 160 cities responded in spring 2003 to the request for proposals to host the defense.  In late March, 2003, ACM released the short-list of 8 finalists.  Their original intention had been to announce the final location by December 15th, 2003, as required by the protocol.  Interviews with Jochen Schumann said that the number of venues under consideration would be reduced to four by the end of May, while comments from Russell Coutts pointed toward the list being narrowed to two cities by the end of July with the final decision to be made public in October.  On June 4th, ACM issued a press release promising the list of four would be made public on June 12th.  Despite expectations that the candidate cities might even be narrowed to 2 finalists on June 12th, ACM's decision only reduced the list to 5 cities.  Continuing the theme, while in early fall most observers expected that September's Moët Cup would be a ideal occasion to reveal the final two candidates, on September 5th ACM cut the list from five to four, eliminating only Palma de Mallorca.  Heightened negotiation activity in late September and early October again built anticipation of an early final decision, with some insiders looking to late October for announcement of the winning venue.  On October 30 ACM released a statement that the winner would be announced November 26th, in Geneva.  On November 6th, ACM provided details of the announcement ceremony, including a webcast.

Short list, or The Elite Eight, as of March:

Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia, Spain

Naples, Porto Cervo (Sardinia) and the island of Elba, Italy

Lisbon (Cascais), Portugal

Marseille, France

Shorter List, as of June 12th, or The Final Five:

Palma de Mallorca and Valencia, Spain

Naples, Italy

Lisbon (Cascais), Portugal

Marseille, France

Slightly Shorter List, as of September 5th, or The Final Four:

Valencia, Spain

Naples, Italy

Lisbon (Cascais), Portugal

Marseille, France
 

The Glass Slipper...
Each of the group of five finalists participated in an extensive information gathering process, including supplying an instrumented boat to gather daily weather observations and completing a dossier running into the hundreds of pages.  ACM reviewed the submitted data, organized around 80 questions posed to the prospective hosts, and held a public forum on August 20-21 to allow candidates to present additional information as appropriate.  Though the dossiers were not intended by ACM to be disclosed publicly, Naples briefly posted their submission documents on the city website in late September.

Publicly described criteria for the selection process include infrastructure support for both the teams and the general public, transportation access, security issues, financial contributions and related forms of host government assistance, and a desire for first-class sailing conditions.

The open manner of inviting competition to host the event played to ACM's position in the financial negotiations.  Many people were surprised that the September announcement only eliminated 1 out of 5 prospects.  The ostensible reasoning was that this move simplified the demands on the Spanish contingent, allowing them to focus on support for a single candidate.  A few people also have pointed out that retaining 4 viable alternatives during the final deal-making phase retained maximum negotiating advantage for ACM.  Some prospective challengers were vocal with criticism of the slow pace of ACM's decision, citing the sustained uncertainty surrounding the decision as an impediment to their early fundraising and, by extension, recruitment efforts.  The selection process, though, was on track for making the final decision by December 15th as promised, and a good venue arrangement should benefit all teams.   "I understand that people outside of the process might want a decision sooner.  It's natural, but I don't think we can do that,"  Ernesto Bertarelli told London's Daily Telegraph.  "We can't decide on a venue until we have confirmed commitments of investment offered by the region, cities and government." 

Reports indicate that the remaining venues were given the model contract for the host city agreement in early September, along with a 12-day window to respond.  Some of the packages were believed to represent substantial commitments for facilities and services by the host cities, with costs running into the hundreds of millions of Euros.  The hosts were likely also asked to exempt ACM, the teams, and their personnel from many tax considerations.

Speculation is that the nature of the "Cup Village" will be much more extensive in comparison to previous Cup locales, not to mention much more carefully managed.   Expectations vary, but such changes as a daily admission charge for spectators, a full program of staged (and, of course, sponsored) events, and a vastly expanded scope of corporate and public entertainment outlets may be part of the new direction ACM intends for the regatta. Fans are also hoping that the sort of openness Alinghi brought to their Auckland compound will be strongly encouraged for all teams in the European setting.

And the Winner is...?
Consensus among Cup watchers initially tended to favor Cascais for both sailing conditions and infrastructure.  Concern was voiced about the typically light or uncertain wind conditions at several of the other short-listed cities, especially in the wake of the many cancelled sailing days during the 2003 America's Cup and Louis Vuitton Cup.  The thought of dependable 18-24 knot winds off Lisbon recalled for many the exciting television-friendly visuals from Australia's defense in Fremantle that helped achieve record worldwide viewership for sailing.

As details emerged over the course of ACM's analysis, though, in September and October many believed that Valencia had gained the edge based on strong financial and government support, though with Marseille's bid not far behind.  Also perceived as a strong candidate, Naples had a shore-side package offering unique opportunities, playing to the progressive identity Alinghi seeks for the America's Cup by elevating spectator access and sponsorship appeal while leaving a positive legacy via 'sustainable redevelopment' of a blighted industrial site.

By mid-November, however, almost all reports in the media depicted the various well-placed Cup observers looking toward Valencia as ACM's pick for 2007, nearly to the point of unanimity.  For ACM's part, even less than a week before the announcement they maintained that nothing had been decided for certain and the site selection would only be revealed November 26th.

In truth, any of the Final Four candidates could host a superb America's Cup regatta.  Like many products of a committee process, especially one aided by consultants, the choice may have hinged as much on avoiding perceived risks as on finding the greatest strengths, but the prospects are bright for the expatriate Cup to find an promising new home.

CupInfo's guide to the venues:

Winning City:  Valencia

The rest of the Final Four:    Lisbon   Marseille    Naples

Eliminated September 5:   Palma de Mallorca 

Also, CupInEurope has a selection of news articles on the venue competition.

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