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The Admiral's Cup is a team event, and each team will consist of three boats entered by the National Authority. The 'big boat' in the team will race under IRC and will have a TCC between 1.300 and 1.550, the second and third boats will both be popular one-design classes, the Swan 45 and the smaller Mumm 30.

The Admiral's Cup is a silver gilt cup, first presented in 1957, which is awarded for international offshore competition and is competed for every two years. The event takes the form of a number of inshore and offshore races, which will be sailed around the Solent area and the English Channel. The event will culminate with the prestigious 400 mile Wolf Rock Race for both the IRC and Swan class, with the smaller Mumm 30's sailing a suitably tailored shorter offshore course.

The RYA proposes to enter two teams into the 2005 Admiral's Cup and at the moment is gauging the interest within the British yachting community. If enough candidates come forward, the selection committee, comprising Chairman Iain MACDONALD-SMITH, Mike RICHARDS and David ATKINSON, will run a trials series during the months of April and June.

Each class will have an inshore series of six to eight races, followed by one offshore race. If interest is limited within some classes, the selection committee will announce a number or races and events that it will be using for observation and training. In any class, more than two individual entries from committed and competitive boats will result in selection trials; otherwise the same races will be designated as observation races. All the dates chosen are for existing regattas, run by Warsash Sailing Club, The Royal Southern Yacht Club and The Royal Ocean Racing Club, in order to guarantee a fleet to provide competitive racing.

RYA Chairman of Selectors Iain MACDONALD-SMITH commented, 'We know that we have several high quality Mumm 30 crews in this country, and a group of committed Swan 45 owners, who we hope will all want to have a crack at representing Team GBR in this year's Admiral's Cup. The IRC Big Boat category has been complicated by very recent rule changes. We are hoping that by having the IRC trial races in June, we are opening up the possibility of a few owners getting their hands on a charter boat, which would be competitive in the international IRC fleet.'