America's Cup organizers "very serious" about Newport, R.I.

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Are the city's America's Cup chances sailing away?

Are the city's America's Cup chances sailing away?

So much for the idea that America's Cup race organizers were just courting Newport R.I. to get San Francisco to sweeten its bid for the 2013 races.

Facing a self-imposed Dec. 31 deadline to inform competitors about the location of the next regatta, race organizers say they are pursuing efforts to return the Cup to Newport, R.I., home to sailing's most prestigious event for decades.

"We are very serious in our intent to move forward with Rhode Island," Stephen Barclay, an official for BMW Oracle Racing and the Golden Gate Yacht Club, said in a letter to Rhode Island's economic development chief that was released today. "There is much to do to meet the timeframes we have set."

America's Cup officials, after voicing displeasure with the financial terms of San Francisco's bid, were talking with Rhode Island leaders as Mayor Gavin Newsom's administration put the finishing touches on its proposal last Tuesday.

Even after last-minute tweaks by San Francisco, talks in Rhode Island continued into the week, including meetings with Gov.-elect Lincoln Chafee, state Sen. M. Teresa Paiva Weed and Keith Stokes, head of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.

A letter from Barclay to Stokes that Rhode Island official released today reads: "Over the past week, you have clearly presented why Rhode Island, and Fort Adams State Park, in particular, has the capability to host the 34th America's Cup, one of the largest sporting events in the world in terms of economic benefit and mass media audience."

BMW Oracle Racing, owned by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and sponsored by San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, captured the cup in February. The winning syndicate gets to choose where the next race will be held. Holding the cup in San Francisco is projected to create more than 8,000 jobs and inject $1.2 billion or more into the local economy.

Barclay, in an email, said San Francisco is not out of the running and no decision has been made yet.

But there's another interesting element in his letter to Stokes, where he writes: "On our side we must establish how the teams, visitors and VIPs will be accommodated and how we will raise the necessary corporate sponsorship."

The San Francisco proposal calls for a newly formed America's Cup Organizing Committee of influential and deep-pocketed civic and business leaders to raise $270 million in corporate sponsorships for the event. Barclay's letter suggests race organizers would take on that responsibility themselves in Rhode Island.

Perhaps race organizers view any potential land deal in Newport to be more valuable than the development rights to Piers 30-32 and the adjacent Seawall Lot 330 that San Francisco is offering. Barclay's letter indicates the Newport idea calls for team bases and public race facilities to be located at Fort Adams State Park, an 80-acre historical site containing the largest coastal fortification in the country.

Team officials are being tight-lipped on the Rhode Island proposal, but Stokes told the AP that it would cost race organizers as little as $10 million to make improvements to hold the races in Newport. That's compared to at least $55 million race organizers would pay to shore up crumbling San Francisco piers. Race officials estimate that holding the event in San Francisco, including infrastructure work and pre-Cup races, would cost them about $500 million before factoring in income, like sponsorships.

Of course, all of this comes after race organizers in July announced that San Francisco was the only U.S. city in contention to host the next Cup, beating out previous hosts San Diego and, you guessed it, Newport.

Posted By: John Coté (Email) | December 20 2010 at 03:22 PM

Listed Under: If you build it, they will come