The Official
Website of the
International
Sailing Federation

In order to prevent any further expenditure by teams on anything from shipping costs to new sails, a cut off date of early April had to be made and a decision taken now, rather than waiting for the final entry date of 3 May.

Despite initial expressions of interest from no less than 13 countries and realistic hopes for at least ten teams from seven different countries, by early April only two countries had confirmed their entries, with another two or three teams struggling to put together competitive entries.

The RORC's Admiral's Cup Management Committee considered that the uncertainty surrounding potential teams was such that the chances of staging a strong international event worthy of the Admiral's Cup were sufficiently in doubt and therefore reluctantly decided that they must cancel the 2005 event.

Initially there was good support for the new format of the event and the boats chosen for the 2005 Admiral's Cup (a Mumm 30, a Swan 45 and a big IRC boat).

This decision on boats was made after considerable discussion and represented a modern, professional approach to the type of boats that should compete for the Admiral's Cup. However, this support has ebbed away for a number of reasons ranging from some teams having trouble in securing sponsorship to persuading the owners of eligible boats to take the plunge and finally enter the competition. .

The RORC would like to express its thanks to Admiral's Cup sponsors Henri Lloyd, CORUM and Champagne Mumm for their continued support and also the Cowes business and yachting communities, whose considerable help and understanding are so valuable to the Club.