The tiny, exclusive Punta Ala Yacht Club of Italy has been named challenger of record for Team New Zealand's next defence of the America's Cup.
A lunch at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) last week tied up the deal with Prada's home club, with the fashion house's boss Patrizio Bertelli confirming today he would challenge again for the cup in the summer of 2002-2003.
The agreement between the New Zealand and Italian clubs shuts the door on United States' efforts to secure the pivotal role.
Punta Ala will now have the job of representing the challengers in talks with the RNZYS to draw up the rules and protocol for operating the next defence.
The New York Yacht Club was the RNZYS's challenger of record for the cup that ended yesterday with Team New Zealand beating Prada 5-0 in the best of nine-race finals.
Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts said there was no deliberate decision to shut out the Americans.
He said Prada was a certain player in the next cup.
"They are European, which is a little bit of a change for the cup but I think it is a good change.
"And I think they have shown themselves to be of a high standard here, they acted in a sportsmanslike way and I look forward to working with them in the future to develop a better America's Cup."
Coutts said that of all the possible challengers of record, Prada stood out as being the top candidate for New Zealand. He did not say which other clubs wanted the role but "there was plenty of interest to be challenger of record."
Coutts said it was too soon to talk about sponsorship issues, but it was expected the designers would begin work soon while sailors would also want to sign up.
He did not know if there would be a defenders' series in the next cup.
"It's too early for that but we have got to look at all avenues to improve our performance, and we will consider everything. I don't think we have put too many steps wrong this time.
"We will certainly look at all the alternatives and make what we think is the best call."
- NZPA
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