Australian Iain Murray was today confirmed as the America's Cup regatta director for the 35th edition of the Cup in 2017.
Murray, who will oversee the finer details of racing, said he senses a strong feeling of cooperation - and increased competitiveness - among the six syndicates who willbattle for sport's oldest trophy.
"I've already seen a strong spirit of cooperation between the teams," Murray said. "We're focused on getting ready for the first America's Cup World Series events in the new foiling versions of the AC45s, as well as pulling together a measurement committee and finalising some details about the AC62. Everybody is contributing and the process is working well."
He believes the cup can take a step forward and believes increased competitiveness will surface as teams grow more comfortable with the radical boats.
"Leading into the last America's Cup, there were so many major changes and collectively we learned so much about how to design, build and race these foiling multihulls," Murray said.
"Now we have the chance to fine-tune and make adjustments to make it even better.
"Whether it's the conversion to foiling AC45s for the America's Cup World Series, the new AC62s, the spectator experience, or the safety mechanisms - last time we really had to find our way. This time we have a template to work from and I expect we'll see improvements across the board."
