History...
Baron Bich
« "One day my wife will write my biography" he would invariably say.
After taking so much pressure I felt it was my duty to stir the memories of his past. First out of my conscience and also out of a desire to incite hope in others. It is always possible to start from nothing and end up with something. »
Laurence BICH's book
History
The rule's Cup
The Americans had already accepted the Australian challenge and had set
a date for the duel in September 1967. For the following Cup, most probably
in 1970, one would have imagined that if the Australians lost, they would
be back for a second attempt. In addition there was already word of new
aspirations from Great Britain, with a proposed challenge from the Royal
Dorset Yacht Club supported by Prince Philip.
According to the Cup rules, no date could be guaranteed for the acceptance
of a challenger application. It begged the question: How do you put in
place such a large-scale organization with the financial, technical and
human resources involved in preparing a team and building a boat when
there is no guarantee that the race will ever take place?
In October 1966 during lunch at the New York Yacht Club, Baron Bich proposed
a whole new formula to the directors of this prestigious institution.
It involved the New York Yacht Club accepting multiple Challengers at
the same time. These Challengers would first have to battle it out amongst
themselves and the best Challenger would then go on to race against the
Americans, the "Defender" of the America's Cup.
The idea was received with a certain astonishment to say the least.
It must be said that up until then, the Americans had a certain advantage
that partly explained their superiority in the competition: while the
"Challengers" would generally enter into the competition for
the first time and would come up against the "Defender" on its
home turf, it so happened that the "Defender" was already the
product of a fierce selection process.
Most of the Directors of the New York Yacht Club did not see what was to be
gained by changing the rules of the Cup.
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