The Real Club Náutico Valencia withdraws from the 34th America’s Cup
First it was the French team Aleph that announced its departure from the America’s Cup, now the Spanish Green Comm syndicate announces that it can no longer continue its campaign for the 34th America’s Cup.
The news, which has been the source of much speculation since the team announced it would not be competing in the Naples event, reduces the number of potential Challengers to six.
Artemis Racing – Kungliga Svenska Segal Sallskapet (SWE)
China Team – Mei Fan Yacht Club (CHN)
Emirates Team New Zealand – Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (NZL)
Energy Team – Yacht Club de France (FRA)
Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 – Circolo della Vela Sicilia (ITA)
Team Korea – Sail Korea Yacht Club (ROK)
The timing of the recent announcements comes six weeks before the next entry payment of $200,000 is required by the AC Event Authority from each of the teams.
A month later on July 1, teams can launch their AC72 cats for a maximum of 30 days between this date and the 31 January 2013.
The official announcement from Green Comm read as follows:
In the preliminary races of the World Series, held in Cascais, Plymouth and San Diego in 2011, the Green Comm syndicate, associated with the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, participated with the youngest crew, with promising results in an upward progression. As expected, securing the necessary sponsorship conditioned the presence in the series scheduled for the year 2012.
In December of 2011 Green Comm reached collaboration agreements with the Regional Government of Lombardy (Italy) and the Circolo de Vela Gargnano that seemed to have secured the necessary funding to complete the participation of the syndicate, not only in the 2012 events but also in the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2013 with the AC72′s.
The Real Club Náutico de Valencia has been watching the development of this agreement, vital for the continuation of the campaign in 2012. Unfortunately, these expectations have not been fulfilled and given the enormous difficulty in securing other sponsorship that would allow to keep a challenge with the required rigor and dignity and given the current economic climate, on April the 5th the Real Club Náutico de Valencia informed Golden Gate Yacht Club that it relinquished the challenge presented in February of 2011, resignation that was accepted on April 10th, 2012.
The Real Club Náutico de Valencia appreciates the expressions of support we have received from various institutions, media, sailors and sailing enthusiasts in our attempt to help keep the Spanish sailing at the highest world level, after the conclusion of two America’s Cup editions in Valencia with huge impact.