As the entries for the 34th America’s Cup continue to reveal themselves, here’s our assessment on who’s in, who could be and who’s been seen in some of the right places to fuel speculation.

Already in:

DEFENDERS
1 – BMW Oracle Racing – Defender

CHALLENGERS
1 – Mascalzone Latino Audi Team – Challenger of Record
2 – Artemis – CEO Paul Cayard, helmsman Terry Hutchinson
3 – Aleph Equipe De France – Bertrand Pacé and Alain Gautier
4 – Emirates Team New Zealand
5 – Team Australia
6 – Energy Team – Loic & Bruno Peyron, Yacht Club de France
7 – Anonymous entry
The maybe and wild guess list:

Synergy – Russian campaign backed by three Moscow-based businessmen, the most high profile being Russian diplomat Valentin Zavadnikov.

Canadian team – Royal Canadian Yacht Club, represented by 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.

All4One – Stephane Kandler and Jochen Schuemann Franco-German team. The union of Kandler’s K-Challenge and Schuemann’s German campaign for the 33rd America’s Cup.

Korea – Korea Match Cup organiser Dong Young Kim was at the meeting and is said to have backing for a team. This seems to be a serious proposition.

Aleph Team France – spearheaded by Bertrand Pace, managed by sports marketeer Philippe Ligot

Offshore Challenges – Charles Derbyshire was at the Dubai meeting

Argo Challenge – Lars Grael’s disabled team based in Italy

Herbert Dercksen – Dutch Tornado Olympic sailor, Extreme 40 co-creator and businessman

China Team – represented in Dubai by Thierry Barot (who skippered the China Team Extreme 40 earlier this year)

Greek Challenge – competed in the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland in 2009.

Luna Rossa -Despite having no interest in a catamaran America’s Cup, Luna Rossa has announced its entry to the Extreme Sailing Series next year with a team led by Paul Campbell-James. What could this mean?

Baron Benjamin de Rothschild – behind the Gitana team and for more than a decade a top exponent of multihull racing in France.

Alain Gautier – was at the America’s Cup meeting in Paris

Olivier de Kersauson – French round the world and offshore veteran was also at the meeting in Paris.

Australian campaign

Victory Challenge – Sam Murch was in Dubai, presumably representing Hugo Stenbeck

Talk of a second US defender with several names being bandied about, the strongest being former Alinghi helmsman Ed Baird and multihull skipper Cam Lewis, who raced on Dennis Conner’s America’s Cup catamaran in 1988.

KEY DATES

2011-2012 America’s Cup World Series Schedule

Event One: 16 – 24 July
Event Two: 13 – 21 August
Event Three: 17 – 25 September
Event Four: 15 – 23 October
Event Five: 10 – 18 December
Event Six: 17 – 25 February, 2012
Event Seven: 14 – 22 April, 2012
Event Eight: 19 – 27 May, 2012
 

VENUES
2013 – San Francisco will host the America’s Cup.

No venues have yet been announced although 18 cities are believed to be bidding to host events in the America’s Cup World Series. Among the likely venues are believed to be Trapani, Palma, Marseille, Portugal, Newport Rhode Island as well as Middle East and Far East venues.

POSSIBLE SCHEDULE

Challenger selection series
Round Robin – 1-13 July-4 August 2013
Quarter finals – 8-11 August 2013
Semi finals – 16-19 August 2013
Finals – 23 August-1 September 2013

America’s Cup (best of nine)
Over 7-22 September 2013