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Canadian sail team could challenge for America Cup
No, not that World Series. I mean the newly created America's Cup World Series, the pinnacle of bigtime yacht racing, for which a Canadawide challenge, to be put forth by the Royal Canadian Yacht Club at a cost of $30 million to $45 million, is being discussed.
"We're very much in the exploratory phase of the program," said Kevin Reed, a Toronto investment banker and RCYC member who is chair of Red Maple Racing, the bid's name if and when it takes off.
"We'll know by late January or midFebruary. We'll take 60 days to size up the opportunity. But it makes a ton of sense and the economics are realistic."
Reed said the Canadian group, including the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and Royal Halifax Yacht Squadron, would put together a joint challenge, to be run out of the RCYC on Toronto Island and feature an allCanadian crew.
"Do we have the talent for an allCanadian crew? I think we do," said bid backer Paul Henderson, former head of the International Sailing Federation and the only RCYC member who was actually born on Toronto Island. Henderson worked the America's Cup meeting last week in Dubai, where the Canadian cat began to escape the bag.
Canada has challenged previously for the oldest (first awarded 1857) trophy in sport, beginning with an RCYC attempt back in 1876, but it hasn't been back since 1987. Tales of hightech challenges costing north of $200 million dominated America's Cup talk in recent decades, but things are changing.
In shorthand, the Cup defender basically gets to set the rules and the BMW Oracle team, which won last time,[url=http://www.sport.fr/business/louisvuitton.html]louis vuitton paris[/url], is changing things drastically. Instead of a 72foot monster craft, the preliminary rounds in 2011 and 2012, named the America's Cup World Series, will be contested in 45foot catamarans, boats built to equal specifications that can be easily disassembled and shipped around the world in containers.
The aim is for a Formula One kind of series; race in China this month, Australia next month, then Europe, etc. on a rotation before contesting the finals in 2013, likely in San Francisco Bay, back in the larger boats. One of the preliminary stops could be in Vancouver, Halifax or even off Toronto.
"There are five races in 2011 and they're all spoken for. But there are going to be eight races in 2012, and there's a good possibility one of them would be in one of the Canadian cities," Reed said.
That's if it all comes off. Reed says they are checking the numbers and sounding out potential sponsors.
"I've heard about teams spending $150 million or $200 million, but this new approach is to make it as syndicatefriendly as possible," he said. "They've told us (costs would be) $10 million to $15 million a year, with some of that coming from revenue sharing."
So far, bids for 2013 are in place from the United States, New Zealand, Italy, France, Sweden and Russia. Canada, Korea, Australia and China are considering joining.
The idea won't grab every sports fan locally, but it will get a lot of play if it happens.
ON THE CORNER: When it comes to helping children at Christmas, there's no bad way to do it, but one of the best ways is to remember loved ones who are now departed. Along those lines, plenty of generosity arriving for the Jim Proudfoot Corner of The Star's Santa Claus Fund honour those no longer with us. For openers, there's $500 from Andrea and Rob Faulds remembering Tom Cheek and Rob's TV pal John Cerutti, still greatly missed.
Orangeville's Peter Weber always helps out, this year sending his $300 in memory of good friend Allan Coughlin. From Toronto, Corner regular Janet Garden has a thought for Norah and Gordon, mailing $250.
Alan Gardiner of Mississauga pays tribute to his mother Jean, mailing $100, and Jim Dadson and the Thursday Night Writeoffs add a Cnote in honour of hockey buddies Bernie and Jeff. Hans Grottke, the trots man here, honours his late wife Sheila with $100 and Wally Tarling mails the same from Grimsby dedicated to his brother Roy.
Rick Haliechuk, an excellent longtime newsman who has moved on from the Star, passed along his annual $200, and Myra and John Lofts check in as usual from Oakville with $250 to help buy the gift boxes headed for those 45,000 kids.