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Thought I'd open a page for this still distant event with renderings of the new Foiling Mono Hull yachts that will be used. This was chosen because the seaway in Auckland's inner habour would've made the multi-hull cats difficult to handle in what can be difficult wind conditions. Grant Dalton said it was possible to have the multi-hull cats but they would be too far off shore for spectators to witness. The foiling mono-hulls can get up to considerable speed and can be even more scary to handle. They can also handle the Auckland inner habour seaway and wind conditions...And fans can watch from the shore. Here's a graphic... https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tvnz.co.nz%2Fone-news%2Fnew-zealand%2Fhosting-americas-cup-could-bring-1-billion-nz-economy&h=ATNhuNPEaZUptV3RLQvXHtmMroyWC2X03evXxUdC3YmGYIl3v7IlcF-cUA3h-GjItYcM7R2Tz79d3kBKdpCdpyOkhPmuRisVHPm8NbRUQx-dmW8pTAFpbEx6rWKAKjkJDrjCpE9rdCniTvUcxRyAc-H-87ZzxlsOcGy0OoEMGMJl_Q0IAyCvqHybxjwFU9Igam1x9ehRrx03GllLE1uzrgZHEtP2I28nl9qtQg4yZ9au_1LeWyI2V0OofgRupJ0BwEEoKT7o9GeN5EBDiVU4Lse-_gFc

Yeap! We have a venue for the 35th America's Cup finals. Bermuda! June 2017! It will be the first time the USA defender is hosting away from home, but oh what a venue! Simply chosen for its Eastern seaboard TV coverage appeal after most networks said the exciting racing from the 2013 even would've been enhanced further if a suitable time zone was found to slot racing in. Wealthy and well heeled Bermuda, surprisingly, is a British Commonwealth country, it will be the fourth one to host the regatta. BUT, still to be decided is where the Challenger finals are to be held. And who will be it's main sponsor. There is early speculation that Luna Rossa Challenge and Team New Zealand have put forward proposals to provide a venue and tense negotiations are believed to be underway. Originally, as planned in the new rules, the original Challenger of Record was to host the challenger finals. That was Team Australia...who suddenly pulled out earlier this year. This opened up the possibility of another country hosting. But not necessarily fronting a team. The challenger and America's Cup finals will be using the new 62foot class catamaran, a compromise to the horrendously expensive 72foot speed demons that were almost too hot to handle in the last event. What of Louis Vuitton? Louis Vuitton, the long term sponsor of the challenger series untill 2013 said that it (2013) was their last. Citing difficult working relationships with the defenders committee and the controversy surrounding the previous event. It was hoped that New Zealand would be next host, but history has shown otherwise. Team New Zealand has remained holders of the Louis Vuitton Cup since 2007 after winning it in 1995 and forfeiting as Americas Cup holders in 2000 and 03. There has been more speculation that LV would return if Team NZ, and Auckland were hosts. But in the murky world of America's Cup, anything is likely and the idea of Italy hosting the 2017 Challenger Series definitely holds appeal with that top end market well catered for there.