Yacht race anger grows
The America's Cup has run into choppy waters with its central backer
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Your support makes all the difference.RELATIONS between the organisers of the 1995 America's Cup and one of its principal corporate supporters, the Citizen watch company, have hit a new low as the qualifying rounds get under way this week.
Citizen's US president, Larry Grunstein, is sponsoring the competition to find the team that will defend the trophy on behalf of the United States, which has lost it only once in 144 years. Three syndicates, each one equipped with a 75ft boat, are battl i ng it out.
Citizen, which is also the official timer, is likely to have spent at least $10m (£6.2m) more than it costs to sponsor the FA Cup in the UK. Grunstein reckons it is worth it because the America's Cup has the upmarket image he is trying to establish for his brand. But he is being frustrated by America's Cup '95, the organising group in San Diego, which has failed so far to deliver the smooth running that had been promised to erase the bad memories of the 1992 Cup.
The deficiencies are highlighted by the comparative success of the group that co-ordinates the activities of the challenging syndicates, two each from Australia and New Zealand, one each from France, Spain and Japan. They are racing for the Louis VuittonCup and the winner has the sole right to challenge for the America's Cup.
The foreigners have arranged for their races to be covered on television every day, in a $5m deal. But the deal that the Americans have struck with the broadcaster ESPN does not begin until the semi-finals, and will be shown on a channel that, according
to Grunstein, can be watched in only 15 per cent of US homes.
AC '95 says Citizen knew what was in the television contract before it signed the deals. Grunstein is angry because he feels too little effort is being made to alter the situation. He says that every time any money is needed they turn to him. "They even
wanted $20,000 from me to put a television editing trailer in the same park as the international broadcasting centre," he says.
Other gripes, such as the aggressive marshalling of boats carrying press and photographers, and the close attentions of the US coastguard as boats try to make it from one end of the course to the other in time, have added to the friction.
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