Swedish Meatballs II

Once again SA's crystal ball, and our mole inside ACM, have proven omniscient. A month ago we correctly predicted (Swedish Meatballs) that Malmoe, Sweden would be the site for two of the six AC pre-regattas on tap for this year, and that the Swedish "Victory Challenge" was ACM's anonymous 7th Challenger that registered before Christmas along with the Spanish. Other sites got it so wrong.

Both announcements finally came out this week. So congratulations to the Swedes for once again jumping into the fray. But can someone please explain why two weeks back the highly respected Danish skipper, Jesper Bank, who was with Victory Challenge last time, announced as the skipper of the lamentable German project "Fresh 17" that has yet to file a challenge? Most of our sources say they are looking less viable with every passing day. We hope Fresh 17 make it - think how much fun we will have with a team whose name sounds more like a teen magazine, or, worse, a porn film?

Oh Coutts, if you only knew

Speaking of lamentable situations, the AC jungle-drums have started beating softly-softly about Russell Coutts trying to turn up the heat on Ernesto Bertarelli. With our well-tuned ear to the ground, SA can reveal in yet another world exclusive that Coutts has written a letter to each of the challengers and asked them to grant him permission to race in the next AC. This despite the rule that Bertarelli put in last summer ...to stop any sailor who was employed by.... a Cup team for more than six months from jumping to another team. Coutts, of course, had been under contract to Alinghi since April 2003 when he was was fired by Alinghi in August 2004 - the week after Bertarelli's rule was enacted.

If anyone wants to send us a copy of the letter (hello Russell?) we will gladly post it. Try as we might, none of the Challengers will give us a copy, but the stoney silence we got from several when we have asked confirms to our satisfaction that they received it. SA has also heard that Coutts is trying to get his case in front of ISAF, but ISAF has already signed away any jurisdiction over the America's Cup in a deal they did with ACM last year for a cash payment, we hear, in the high six figures.

Stay tuned...