Russell Coutts has hinted it is likely a nationality clause will be reintroduced for the next America's Cup.
Discussions are well under way between Oracle Racing and challenger of record Team Australia, representing the Hamilton Island Yacht Club, over what shape the next event will take. And it appears there is a lot of support for stronger nationality rules in the next event.
The nationality clause was abolished following Team New Zealand's successful Cup defence in 2000, which paved the way for Coutts to link up with Swiss syndicate Alinghi, headed by billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli. The move prompted a huge furore in New Zealand and in the international sailing community, and since then the nationality debate has remained contentious in the sport.
In this year's event the only stipulation was that the hulls of the boats had to be constructed in the nation of the challenging yacht club, but there was no nationality restriction on sailors involved. That is why Oracle, which represents San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club and the United States, had just one American - Rome Kirby - in their 11-man crew that pulled off a brilliant come from behind victory over Team New Zealand in September, while Swedish team Artemis had no Swedes in their team.
The trend for teams to take a global approach to talent recruitment has lead to the prevailing recent view that the America's Cup more resembles the Formula One model: more about brand identity and pushing technological boundaries than national identity and a patriotic agenda.
