Emirates team New Zealand tactician Ray Davies could be tripped up by the Volvo Round the World yacht race if the next America's Cup is held in 2009.
Davies is understood to be contracted to Mean Machine for the Volvo in 2008-2009, overlapping with the time when the
Cup regatta is expected to start if it is held in Valencia.
He is understood to be the only Team New Zealand member affected, although Jono MacBeth, Tony Rae and Stu Bettany, among others, have all crewed on Mean Machine for previous regattas.
Davies will be hoping the current negotiations between Ernesto Bertarelli's America's Cup Management and Valencian authorities break down. If they find a way through the current negotiations, the Cup will be held in Valencia in 2009. That means Davies might have some delicate negotiating of his own to do.
If the talks break down, the regatta will be held elsewhere in Europe in 2010 or 2011 - the scenario that would allow Davies to do both.
Davies declined to comment yesterday.
