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The new regatta being hosted by Team New Zealand and Louis Vuitton is proving so popular syndicate head Grant Dalton is already exploring ways to allow more contestants to take part.
The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series was originally aimed at six teams on a first-come, first-served basis but interest has been so high - with 16 strong expressions of interest - that Dalton is now looking at expanding the competition to eight.
"It'd get a little crazy if we went to more than eight under this format," says Dalton, referring to the fact each team will sail Team New Zealand's America's Cup yachts in the match racing series next January-February.
"You'd have to say the reception has been far greater than we expected. We appear to be headed for something that will be successful."
Emirates Team New Zealand has sent out official forms but five syndicates have already told Dalton they're coming: BMW Oracle, Shosholoza (South Africa), K-Yacht (France), Mascalzone Latino (Italy) and a new French team, led by renowned America's Cup skipper Marc Pajot, CEO of the French Spirit challenge.
In addition, Dalton has received a total of 16 expressions of interest - including TeamOrigin, Britain's new America's Cup syndicate, a team from Australia (thought to involve longtime Cup contestant John Bertrand) - and there are reports Louis Vuitton organiser Bruno Trouble is seeking the participation of Spanish syndicate Desafio Espanol. now skippered by another America's Cup supremo, Paul Cayard.
There are suggestions that Dennis Conner might be invited to put together a team (so re-staging the 1983 clash between him and Bertrand when the Cup left the US for the first time. There has also been interest from a Brazil team.
"I think there's a couple of reasons for all the interest - the involvement of a company like Louis Vuitton and the reputation it brings," says Dalton.
"You have to look at a big team like Mascalzone Latino - they love New Zealand and love sailing here and that allure of coming back to New Zealand should not be underestimated."
Team New Zealand have also been at pains to point out the Louis Vuitton series is not the America's Cup nor an attempt to replace it.
"It is a top-class match racing regatta. Some of the best people in the world are coming, like Russell Coutts and James Spithill.
"By using our two America's Cup yachts for each team and making them as identical as possible, we are actually making things more even; completely even.
"The America's Cup is all about technology - and there's nothing wrong with that; it's good. So this is not the America's Cup. We have made it even, simple and inexpensive.
"The only things the teams have to pay is a ¬10,000 bond for boat damage and ¬15,000 for team spinnakers which can be team-branded, and air fares. That's it. Simple."
The regatta has come at a time when many are disillusioned with the America's Cup. The ongoing court action has seemingly stalled the Cup in the American legal system.
So has the intransigence of the two billionaires - Alinghi's Ernesto Bertarelli and Oracles' Larry Ellison - and their willingness to spend millions on the legal battle and building multi-million dollar 90-foot trimarans to race in a head-to-head contest that few understand instead of reaching a compromise and sailing on with the next regatta.
"One of our main objectives was to make this low cost," says Dalton, "and to make it fair. There are some of the best sailors in the world sitting on beaches.
"Louis Vuitton has created an environment to get teams sailing again and to get them back on the water - and that is a responsibility we take very seriously."
