The following report about the America’s Cup racing and meeting schedule was published on CupinEurope.com. Organiser 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 on 16 March of the selected cities for the Pre-Regattas to be held this autumn. Valencia, host of the next defense in 2007, has already been named as one site, and target dates for all three events released (5-12 September, 25 September – 3 October, and 17-23 October), but the two remaining locations were still being determined.

The announcement will be made at 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 5-12 September, will likely exchange the 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.

At present, the other two cities chosen to hold the 2004 Pre-Regattas are not known, though 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 organisers 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 other 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 5-8 April. At that time, ACM will release details about the challenger bases located in the ‘Balcón del Mar’, the marketing strategy for the event, and the services that will be provided to the teams.