Race is on to lure America’s Cup to R.I.

Before state leaders threw their support behind the effort to have Newport host the 2013 America’s Cup, the City by the Sea had already sought to lure the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race to Rhode Island waters.
Unlike the push to bring back the America’s Cup, the effort to make Newport a stopover in the around-the-world Volvo race was hindered by limited financial resources, infrastructure questions and a lack of statewide support, according to local officials and sailing enthusiasts.
Officially, there has been no word from the Volvo Ocean Race officials, who declined comment last week to Providence Business News on Newport’s status as a host port, but word that Newport has not been selected for the race has spread quickly through Rhode Island’s close-knit sailing community. (The Newport Daily News reported on March 1 that Miami, and not Newport, was expected to be named as the North American stopover in the world race.)
Volvo’s expected decision not to come to Newport is estimated by event organizers to cost the region as much as $82 million in potential revenue.
What went “off course” with the Volvo Ocean Race bid, however, may prove instructive in attempts to bring the America’s Cup races back to Newport for the first time since 1983 – and to capture its far larger economic bounty, say city officials and sailing enthusiasts.
The key factor, they say, is the willingness of Rhode Island to invest its resources in a committed fashion. And, for the America’s Cup, unlike the Volvo bid, Rhode Island is now working diligently to have all of its sailing and financial ducks lined up.
Brad Read, executive director of Sail Newport, a public sailing center at Fort Adams State Park, and the brother of Volvo Ocean racer Ken Read, says the difference between the two efforts comes down to money and resources. “Volvo is a four-week event; the America’s Cup is for two to three years,” he said. Brad Read, who has led the effort to have Newport host the Volvo Ocean race, said that to bring America’s Cup back to Newport, “it will need commitment on a statewide scale.”
In its most recent contract with potential host ports in January, Volvo asked for a deed of financial guarantee, which indemnified the sponsor against any potential costs that the host port could not fulfill, and Newport was unable to provide that, according to city officials. About $600,000 had been raised on speculation out of an estimated budget of about $2.5 million, Read said. “The Volvo Ocean race, although it is a spectacular, around-the-world race, still left something to be desired in firing the imagination of the state,” said Robin Wallace, chair of the Rhode Island State Yachting Committee. The biggest factor in Newport’s apparent failure to lure the race, he believed, may have been the inability to put money on the table upfront, echoing Read’s concerns. “We couldn’t come up with the [budget funding] ahead of time.”
Newport Mayor Jean Napolitano said that the city by itself could not, unlike some of the European counterparts competing to become host ports, front that kind of investment.
Given the difficult economic times, she continued, “I can understand why it didn’t come about.” Napolitano said “the state had [the financial backing for the Volvo bid] on its radar screen, but the timing didn’t play out.”
Everything, however, seems to be different with the effort for the America’s Cup. “The state has gotten right on top of this,” she said. “They’ve hand-picked some people who can bring extraordinary resources to make this happen.”
If the America’s Cup comes back to Newport, the potential economic boon not only for Newport but for all of Rhode Island is huge, according to Michael Keyworth, general manager at Brewer’s Cove Haven Marina in Barrington and a leader of the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association. “We need to keep our eyes on the prize – which could be worth as much as $4 billion in spending [for Rhode Island],” he said.
Newport City Manager Ed Lavallee says there is a big difference between previous America’s Cup races and those of today. “The races today have become a much more sophisticated process. … Families [in the sailing teams] will relocate here for a year or two in advance. There’s a need to make a commitment to get the infrastructure in place, with adequate housing, educational opportunities and boat-building marinas,” he said.
The Newport County Chamber of Commerce provided detailed economic information – but no direct financial assistance – in support of the Volvo bid, according to Jody Sullivan, the Chamber’s executive director. However, as part of the effort to bring the America’s Cup back to Newport, the Chamber will “invest in the process,” she said. “The number is still fluid, but it will be … in the thousands” of dollars. Under the leadership of Keith W. Stokes, executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, the state has moved quickly in its bid to lure America’s Cup. Stokes has assembled the America’s Cup Rhode Island 2013 Planning Committee, which met for the first time on March 5 in Newport. Its members – which include Brad Read, Lavallee, Keyworth and Wallace (with Sullivan as an observer) – are a veritable who’s who of the sailing world. Other members include W. H. Dyer Jones, who ran the America’s Cup regatta three of the last four times – twice in Auckland, New Zealand, and once in Valencia, Spain; Halsey Herreshoff; and David Elwell; a commodore at the New York Yacht Club.
One of the most important assets in Newport’s pitch, according to Stokes, is the historic, state-owned Fort Adams State Park, and its potential transformation into a Yachting Village, similar to an Olympic Village. The park, Stokes said, “is a great, great asset to build upon, with its 180-degree view of Narragansett Bay.”
There is, according to Stokes, about a 45-day window of opportunity to pull together the state’s bid. Oracle CEO Lawrence Ellison, the leader of the BMW /Oracle sailing team, which captured the America’s Cup title in February, is expected to visit Newport soon.
Ellison has named three cities – San Francisco, San Diego and Newport – as potential locations for the 2013 races. Stokes hopes to meet with Ellison, who recently purchased the Beechwood Mansion in Newport for $10.5 million, when Ellison visits Rhode Island as part of the victory tour.
Unlike Volvo, which was looking for a financial commitment, Ellison says that he’s not looking for public money, according to Brad Read. “He’s looking for access to waterfront property that can be used for team bases and for the America’s Cup village.”
Just as important, some committee members say, will be Rhode Island’s ability to listen and respond to what Ellison and his racing team want.
“We just have to listen … and see how we can adapt Newport and the surrounding area,” Wallace said. •