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VALENCIA, Spain - Team Origin have a boat, their core crew, designers and potential sponsors lined up. Now all they need is for somebody to win this America's Cup so they can kick off their new British challenge.
Sir Keith Mills unveiled the British Team Origin in January
and has since been putting together his team, bringing backers to Valencia to see what the Cup is all about and building relations with the teams currently fighting out the 32nd America's Cup.
"It's going remarkably well," Mills told Reuters aboard his yacht, moored in the middle of the sparkling America's Cup port.
Mills has signed up New Zealander Mike Sanderson as his team director, bought one of Alinghi's old boats to start training in and signed up staff, although he will not announce his crew until September, once their current Cup contracts run out.
Double Olympic champion Ben Ainslie, now Team New Zealand's second helmsman, is touted to be one of the top Britons on board although Mills said a good 40 per cent of Origin's sailors would be "made up of the best talent from around the world".
"The sponsors we're talking to are mostly multinationals which, whilst they have operations in the UK, also operate globally and would feel much more comfortable supporting an international team," he said.
He added that sponsors were attracted to a British team because of the exposure they would get in London, the world's biggest financial centre.
Mills, who made his millions setting up the Air Miles bonus system in the UK and led London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, expected a competitive challenge to cost about £25 million ($66.2 million) a year.
He hopes to cover close to 70 per cent of that with sponsorship, with the rest coming from private individuals.
Before any of them come on board, Team New Zealand or Alinghi have to win this America's Cup and set the time, place and rules of the next one so Origin know it is worth going for.
Both teams have been talking to friendly yacht clubs about possible plans for next time around and whoever wins the Cup will pick a challenger of record as soon as they win. Many Cup followers reckon Alinghi will pick Team Origin if they win.
"We've always said we'd be happy to be the challenger of record if asked," Mills said. "But they have all the cards. They give you a piece of paper and say sign here."
For now, Mills is just at the start of his dream to bring the Cup back to Britain for the first time since the original race in 1851 when the America trounced the British fleet in front of Queen Victoria.
"The idea is to be in the top four in an America's Cup in 2009, win it in 2011, host the best Olympic Games in history in 2012 and defend the America's Cup in 2013," Mills said.
"Then die a happy man."
- REUTERS