America's Cup Events Authority CEO Russell Coutts said that a Chinese team "is one of three talking to America's Cup organisers about joining the five challengers so far entered for the 2017 edition," according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS.
Coutts: "This new entity that is looking to come in would be (from) mainland China, which would be fantastic." Coutts added that "it was important they were competitive." Coutts:
"I don't really want the Chinese to come in if they are not going to be competitive. I think it would do more harm than good." Of the three potential entries, Coutts "was hopeful that one of them would 'get across the line' but that was likely to be the limit." He added,
"I frankly don't think there's much more room at the moment ... for this cycle but ultimately it would be great to have 12 teams out there battling away." Interest in sailing in China is growing, with China's Dongfeng Race Team "challenging strongly in the recent Volvo Ocean Race and CCTV television set to broadcast all stages of the 35th America's Cup, starting with this weekend's World Series event in Portsmouth, England." Coutts:
"I went to mainland China for the first time a few years ago and at that stage I would have said 'Look, there's just no way sailing here can develop fast enough.' I then went back there and was just staggered at what had happened in the two years since" (REUTERS, 7/21).
