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Events and Attractions

America's Cup Competition Headed To Bermuda, Not San Diego, For '17 Event

Bermuda "has been picked over San Diego" to host the '17 America's Cup, according to Bernie Wilson of the AP. A source said that former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison "made the decision after consulting" with Oracle Team USA CEO and America's Cup Event Authority Dir Russell Coutts. A news conference "to announce the venue selection" has been scheduled for Dec. 2 in N.Y. The choice of the British territory is "intriguing, from its location at the northern tip of the Bermuda Triangle to the financial incentives that include tax-free status for regatta participants." It also is "sure to be unpopular with traditionalists and could mean the end of powerhouse Emirates Team New Zealand and perhaps other challengers." This will be "the first time a U.S. defender holds the America's Cup outside" the U.S. Sailors and other members of America's Cup syndicates are "expected to benefit from tax breaks offered by Bermuda." Most sailors "wanted the regatta to return" to San Francisco Bay, where "a steady wind blows." But Coutts "ruled out a return" to S.F., "unhappy that it didn't offer the same terms as last year, including free rent for piers as well as police, fire and other services" (AP, 11/20). In Bermuda, Dexter Smith reported the decision "is expected to result in a huge financial windfall for the Island." Tourism officials would view the event coming to Bermuda "as a 'game changer,' with tens of thousands of visitors expected to descend on the Island" (Bermuda ROYAL GAZETTE, 11/21).

HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE?: In N.Y., Stu Woo wrote San Diego "appeared to have all the advantages" having held the event in the '80s and '90s, being home to Oracle Team USA captain Jimmy Spithill, and being "just an hour's flight from Ellison's home." And "it was in America." Bermuda won "essentially because it offered a better deal, including lower taxes" than San Diego (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/20). In San Diego, Matt Calkins wrote not only is San Diego the "better place to host the next America's Cup -- the world's premier sailing event -- it might just be the perfect place." But there was "one thing the Atlantic Ocean island could provide that San Diego couldn't -- a tax-free experience for all the Cup's participants." In making the decision, Ellison "certainly wasn't thinking of the fan experience." Unlike in Bermuda, where the races "will have to be offshore, the sailors would never be out of sight down here." Former America's Cup sailor Malin Burnham said, "Bermuda is known as a tax haven for rich people. Is that the connotation you want for the America's Cup?" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 11/20).

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