It appears to your editor that even the more skeptical and cynical among the media and the America's Cup "family" (as ACM have taken to calling those directly involved in the action here in Valencia) are becoming bullish on the prospects for the upcoming Acts, and on AC 32 in general. This despite the ongoing construction here -- the din and dust all around us -- which is more than a bit behind the original, to say nothing of the oft-revised, timetable.
While the teams tend to take the delays out on ACM and the local governmental host committee, "V07" (short for
el Consorcio Valencia 2007), the problem largely lies with the lack of cooperation between the central government in Madrid and
los Valencianos that has existed since the socialist party ("PSOE") won control of the central government from the conservative party ("PP") in March 2004. Valencia is a, if not the, bastion of the PP.
From
Valencia Life this morning comes the latest news of the continuing spat:
"Rita Barbera, the Mayoress of Valencia, yesterday issued a harsh warning to the socialist Government in Madrid, after no representatives from either Valencia Town Hall or from the Valencian Government were invited to the opening of the official presentation of the Americas Cup in Madrid which King Juan Carlos was expected to attend. Despite this being remedied by Fax a few hours later, yesterday Mrs. Barbera stated that the ‘obsession with the Socialist Government of being in the front seat at everything’ was ‘trying to take its toll’ on the event. She added: “I want to state clearly to the Government that this anxiety for individual protagonism as part of its electoral campaign should not be undertaken Despite its obsession with controlling everything, the government should clearly understand that the Americas Cup is the result of the collaboration between three administrations: Valencia Town Council, the Valencian Government and the Madrid Government. The headquarters of the Americas Cup is in Valencia and from the very start we Valencians stated that it was an outstanding event for Spain and Europe. This is the right way to go, and not seek electoral advantages from events that the Madrid Government had nothing to do with.” Despite the political rangling, things
are shaping up well here in Valencia. The upcoming Acts and the remaining 14 months of AC 32 promise to provide the closest, toughest racing in the Cup's long history -- hence the most interesting and exciting event ever for the teams, spectators, media, and Cup fans around the world. Why?
+ The Port America's Cup, when finished (more or less by Act 12 in June) will be spectacular. As big a step forward as the Viaduct was in Auckland, Valencia's venue should be an order of magnitude or two better. Recent arrivals to Valencia who have not been here since the Acts a year ago are, simply, bowled over by the team bases, the new canal and marinas, the huge public America's Cup Park rapidly
taking shape all along the north side of the canal to the sea, and the four-story Foredeck building (it has, and has had, several other names, but "Foredeck" if not "Fourdeck" seems to fit its visually-interesting, multi-level look). Even the water quality in the racing area is, by all reports, much improved.
The Foredeck Club building nearing completion at an astonishing rate, with construction continuing 24/7. Photo courtesy Pierre Orphanidis, editor of the excellent Valencia Sailing webite.+ ACM, after being pushed hard over the winter by the Challenger Commission, will now deliver live television coverage of
both race courses for all three 2006 Acts. TV rights holders in at least Scandinavia, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, will carry some or all of the racing live, and the taped daily-highlights packages will be shown in many other countries including the USA, New Zealand and South Africa. This is a significant step forward from past Cups when we have not had live coverage until the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
+ This year has also seen significant Cup action and promotion in other parts of the World, notably the huge concert and TV show in China last month co-sponsored by Louis Vuitton and ACM. Stay tuned, as there is more to come in Germany, the USA and elsewhere over the next months.
+ With one or two question marks, it appears the teams are in increasingly good financial and competitive shape. The prospects for even those that struggled a bit over the winter seem to have improved dramatically in recent weeks. Let's hope.
+ The twelve teams represent yacht clubs from a record ten countries, including first-timers China, Germany and South Africa -- indeed, the first challenger from the continent of Africa. Talk about good AC ink, check out the
terrific article about Shosholoza in this week's European edition of Time Magazine.
+ We continue to be blessed with excellent race management, on the water and off, by a tried and true group of
veteran professionals. And so far, knock on wood, any sportif disputes have been quietly if not always quickly resolved, often by the joint action of the teams themselves without recourse to the jury or measurement committee.
Race Director Dyer Jones (USA), ACC Technical Director Ken McAlpine (AUS) and Jury Chairman Bryan Willis (MAS) at a pre-Act 10 media briefing this week. Photo courtesy ACM.+ Finally, and most importantly, the racing has been better than ever, and not only during last year's Acts. Over the past month or so the teams here have arranged among themselves intensive intra- and intermural racing (to borrow a word from soccer/football, "friendly" matches). No surprise to veteran observers that these friendlies have, for the most part, been close and exciting. There are a number of reasons why: we have a maturing and stable AC Class Rule (15 years!), the tightening of speed-producing variables under Version 5 of the rule ("boxing the boats") so that the yachts are in the same design ballpark and more even than ever, a freer flow of design and sailing talent around the world thanks to the relaxation of the nationality rules, already three years of training and nine "Acts" of racing (a much earlier and higher level of preparedness by more teams than in past Cups), shorter race courses with that now-famous "gate" in lieu of a downwind rounding mark, and, in general, increased sponsorship meaning better funding for more teams.
In recent weeks there have been a dozen or more ACC yachts afloat at the same time training or engaged in "friendly" intermural matches. We counted ten Cup yachts in the frame when we took the photo last week; and please note we were well outside the 200m recon-rule limit. ;)
These changes to the game did not happen accidentally, but after much thought and planning by many people -- beginning with Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison, whose joint directive to their lieutenants back in early 2003 was, in short, "modernize the game." For Ernesto and Larry it was not about more money, but about more and better racing for the sailors and a more interesting and entertaining event for everyone.
One hopes and now believes that their vision is being well realized. Time will tell. There are still some big hurdles between now and when all is said and done by, poetically enough for the America's Cup, the Fourth of July next year. Let's also hope that the mandarins in Madrid, and Valencia for that matter, will realize that the AC jewel has been shined up and is ready to sparkle like never before. It's about time for them, along with everyone else, to relax a bit and say,
"Vamos a la Playa." 
Valencia's Las Arenas Beach, looking out on the main racing area for the upcoming Acts, and next year's Louis Vuitton and America's Cup racing.
