Yachting: San Francisco tipped to host America's Cup

The 34th America's Cup will probably take place in 2013 or 2014 with San Francisco among the favourites to host sailing's top event, organisers said yesterday. A final announcement will be made at the end of the year.

"The realistic date is 2013 or 2014. San Francisco has been mooted as one of the venues that would be spectacular but there is a lot of work to do," Sir Russell Coutts, chief executive of Cup holders BMW Oracle, said. "We've engaged professional event specialists to work through [the possible] venues. We have to address the where before the when."

The Oracle syndicate won the 33rd America's Cup in February. It beat Swiss champion Alinghi off Valencia, Spain.

As Oracle is based in San Francisco, there has been much speculation that the 34th America's Cup will be held in the city. Sir Russell said several "concepts" for the next edition will be examined with all the potential challengers.

- Independent