Ben Ainslie's London 2012 campaign in doubt after changes to America's Cup rules

The nature and number of surprises sprung in the recently published America’s Cup rules have prompted British contenders Team Origin to seek reassurances that the next event will be fair and neutral.

Hanging in the balance: Ben Ainslie's hopes of a fourth Olympic gold are under threat

News that the next America’s Cup would be held in 2013 rather than 2014, came as a bolt from the blue said Grant Simmer who as CEO of Team Origin is trying to establish whether a competitive campaign, likely to cost up to £100 million, is feasible.

BMW Oracle, who by winning the Cup in Valencia in February are now charged with organising the next event, ruffled feathers among potential challengers by unveiling a raft of new ideas and rules that never featured in the much hyped consultation process pledged by the Americans as part of their promise for a neutral, independent and fair event.

While mainly positive, these new innovations could be subject to exploitation by the defender unless an atmosphere of distrust, which created such bitterness and multimillion dollar legal mayhem during the 33rd America’s Cup between BMWO and Alinghi, is largely eradicated early in the cycle.

So there are still many boxes to be ticked before Team Origin founder Sir Keith Mills can push the button on a British challenge, explained Simmer who joined in June after spending ten years with Alinghi.

“The protocol had a lot of surprises for us,” he said.

“They had told us it would be 2014 - they gave us 95 per cent assurance it would be 2014.

“The way the design rule is in the protocol is a big change - that was a surprise. The new AC45 also took us by surprise.”

Staging the Cup a year earlier in 2013 has many ramifications especially for Team Origin skipper Ben Ainslie and his afterguard Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson whose London Olympic campaigns in 2012 have now been thrown into doubt

The short time frame will also give BMWO a clear technological advantage since they are already well advanced of potential challengers in boat and wingsail development following the massive investment in technology for their triumphant multihulll match against Alinghi in February.

Plans for the new AC45 catamaran, which will be introduced as racing and development tools next year for a new circuit before the larger AC72s are rolled out for the Cup, have been well received but serious questions remain over supply.

“We thought the AC45 was going to be supplied equipment but recently we discovered that when you enter the America’s Cup, you have to place an order for one,” Simmer explained.

“That is another question for next week. It would not be a showstopper for us but it is important that all teams get access to an AC45. The build process will take some time and if they belong to the event authority, then they have to provide them on an equal basis to every entered team.

“If they existed now, they would be used by everyone to develop their 72s but because they don’t exist, getting your hands on one is a very big deal.”

It is thought BMWO have already have teamed up with Challenger of Record Mascalzone Latino to form a design and development partnership as part of a new rule - another surprise innovation - that allows unprecedented sharing of information and data.

“You can share design information between teams up until April 2012 by which time you will have designed your first and second boat.

“It means teams can partner up and design each others boats….so there can be three teams with just one designer which is very unusual for the Cup.

Team Origin is now on the hunt for a partner to save on costs and speed up the design and development process, Simmer added.

“Under this new rule, TO could partner with a team with fewer resources and provide all the design information that they need. It helps the less resourced teams get up to speed quite quickly.

“You are only allowed to build two boats so if we partner with another team, we can effectively build four boats, which will be beneficial particularly in the development of the wingsails.

“You can continue developing openly until May 2012 then after that, you can sail together but can’t share design information. That’s not a bad thing necessarily. It is just different. It will help smaller teams who come to us and want to participate and allow us to experiment more.”

Five challengers are said to be looking to mount America’s Cup campaigns but Simmer said this low number could be down to BMWO’s lack of engagement with possible contenders.

“BMW Oracle would probably like around eight challengers but they haven’t told us what they want, which is one of the issues we have with them.

“We would not do it to be part of the show. We want to win and we need to feel that BMW Oracle want people involved who have those ambitions. Sometimes we get the impression they are happy to have people who will be part of the event but with no aspirations of winning it.”

Team Origin’s first task is to satisfy themselves that the new team appointed by BMW Oracle to run the event is 100% neutral, as was categorically promised by Russell Coutts, BMWO’s boss.

“We need to be sure that there will be an independent event authority and they are given their independence,” said the meticulous Simmer.

“That has not happened yet because they are still finding their feet but we are seeking assurances that the new authority will be independent and not controlled by the defender.”

“There will be meetings next week with the guys in the new event management team and we will have to form an opinion.

“We do not want control and we are not asking for any more power than any other challenger but we need some assurances that this will be an equal full on and fair sporting event.

“They say in all the documents that it will be an independent authority so we will need them to demonstrate how it’s going to be because we are going to spend a lot of money and a lot of time on this and need some assurances over how it will be in the future.”

Mills and his backers have already accepted Simmer’s plans and budgets for the next three years but before giving the green light, need to know there is a real chance of winning.

“The first thing a major sponsor will ask us to do is demonstrate why this AC is different to the last one and how we can have a fair shot of winning. So we need to demonstrate to them that this is a new world.”