| COWES, UK-(24-1-2003) The Admiral's Cup, one of the most prestigious international regattas on the sailing calendar, is delighted to announce that France have entered a team for the 2003 event. The UNCL team, a sister club to RORC in France, will be led be Gery Trentesaux, the captain of last year's victorious French Rolex Commodores Cup team. Trentesaux is also confident that a second French club will be entering.
With the event now only some seven months away, there is increasing interest to enter a team. The Royal Ocean Racing Club have, over the past few months, held meetings with potential Clubs and owners across the world and are confident of a competitive, enjoyable and high quality regatta.
`It is critical to the new format Admiral's Cup that we attract a high quality entry - quality is definitely more important that quantity. Like any event of this nature there is an element of the snowball effect in team generation, but now with the French joining the fray, I think we are now beginning to see the snowball starting to roll. What is clear is that there is genuine support from sailors around the world to see the new format Admiral's Cup succeed,` commented Chris Little, new Commodore of RORC.
Janet Grosvenor, RORC Racing Manager continues: `We now have three confirmed entries. In addition to the French UNCL team we have entries from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney and a RORC team led by GBR Challenge's Peter Harrison. There are also firm intentions from a Spanish team. We have invested considerable time and effort in encouraging teams to enter, and as a result there are more teams waiting in the wings. We are also helping a number of owners to look for stable mates and form teams within the requirements of the Notice of Race.`
As current holders of the Admiral's Cup after their notable victory with Mean Machine, Trust Computer Products and Innovision 7, it is hoped that the Netherlands will be back to defend the trophy. A Dutch team has competed in every Admiral's Cup event since 1959, the first year that the contest opened up beyond Great Britain and the USA.
The Admiral's Cup, which will take place in Cowes from 10-23 July 2003, will include the Wolf Rock Race as the long offshore race. Teams will consist of two boats - one from IMS600 class and one large IRC boat. The Notice of Race has now been published and is available from www.rorc.org. The website also provides details of competitive IMS600 class boats available for charter, including Sinergias and optimised IMX40s.
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