Published>Sat, Oct 02 10 12:16 AM
Britain's Team Origin will not challenge for the next America's Cup scheduled for 2013 because it is "neither viable commercially" nor an "attractive sporting contest", the team said on Friday.
Founder Keith Mills, the businessman who helped London win the 2012 Olympic Games and who established Team Origin in 2007, said he would not submit a challenge and will decide the team's future over the "next couple of months".
Team Origin are skippered by Britain's three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie.
"After three years of waiting in the wings to enter a British team in the America's Cup I am bitterly disappointed that we will not be competing," Mills said.
"However, the format and timetable decided by the Defender, BMW Oracle, is simply not viable for Team Origin.
"We have assembled an outstanding team, led by Grant Simmer and Ben Ainslie, and I am personally very sorry that they won't now get the chance to race for a British team in the next America's Cup."
The 34th edition of the America's Cup will be sailed using wingsail catamarans in a rejigged format announced last month. The event has been traditionally been competed in monohulls.
"Having now had a chance to analyse the race format, the proposed fixed wing catamaran boat, the timetable, rules and costs, Sir Keith has concluded that the 34th America's Cup is neither viable commercially, nor an attractive sporting contest for Team Origin," a Team Origin statement said.
BMW Oracle, owned by U.S. software mogul Larry Ellison, beat Switzerland's Alinghi in February in the 33rd edition in Valencia after years of legal wrangling which resulted in a "deed of gift" head-to-head contest between the pair, rather than a multi-challenger event.
Source: Web Search
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