Skipped Cagliari, not Brindisi: the second stage of the America's Cup preliminaries will be held in Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah, on the Red Sea. The official communication arrived this morning.
«The races with the one-design AC40s», reads the note from the organisation, «will take place just outside the race village and the Jeddah Yacht Club, adjacent to the spectacular F1 circuit».
After the controversy over the transfer of the first stage from Cagliari to Vilanova, in Spain, and the shipwreck of the negotiations to hold at least the second stage in Sardinia, the Arab competition overtook Brindisi's candidacy. Just yesterday the regional councilor for Tourism Gianni Chessa, who had interrupted the dialogue with Grant Dalton's Ace, stated: «They were playing upwards, they thought that we Sardinians had a nose ring».
The Saudi Arabian event, they explain from the America's Cup, "is in collaboration with the Ministry of Sport and the Saudi Sailing Federation".
“As the pinnacle of sailing, this preliminary regatta can be used as an event to positively influence a number of fronts,” said Grant Dalton, CEO of AC37 Event.
(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)