America's Cup in New London? Unofficial group floating the idea

New London - Can the city host the America's Cup, or at least a portion of it?

A group of avid sailors and America's Cup afficionados is contemplating those questions now that the cup has landed back on U.S. soil.

"We haven't decided on anything yet,'' said City Councilor Michael Passero, who is heading an informal group looking into the feasibility of making a bid for the sailboat competition. "We're expecting to get more people involved to see if this is something we want to do."

Passero, himself a sailor who has competed in Off Soundings races off New London and Watch Hill to Block Island and Gardiner's Bay, said it could happen.

"There's isn't a single person I've talked to who has pooh-poohed the idea,'' he said.

In February, Larry Ellison of Team BMW Oracle, won the 33rd America's Cup in Valencia, Spain. It is the first time since 1992 that the cup has returned to the United States. Ellison, based in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, can now choose the location for the next cup race, scheduled for sometime in 2013.

While San Francisco, San Diego and Newport are all vying for the race, New London, usually a hesitant younger sibling to other port cities, thinks it might be able to make a legitimate bid to bring the oldest trophy in sports back to the East Coast.

"I think New London and Connecticut should put their best foot forward and see what happens,'' said John Brooks, executive director of the New London Development Corp. and also a member of the committee. "It could be just the impetus we need to spark future development."

Newport hosted the race for 50 years until Australia II defeated Liberty in 1983, ending America's 133-year winning streak. Other than Newport, the only other American city to host the race has been San Diego.

"It could really happen, but we don't know yet,'' said Frank McLaughlin, downtown New London development coordinator, who is also on the committee. "What we're trying to do is informally get the inside track of what Ellison is thinking."

McLaughlin knows his way around the sailing circuit. In 1996, with Peter Holmberg, who earned an Olympic medal in sailing and eventually sailed with the Team Dennis Connor syndicate, McLaughlin formed the Virgin Islands America's Cup Challenge syndicate.

Syndicates are sailing teams that represent a country. They move their crews and operations to the host community for two to three years in advance of the race.

"We have to determine if we qualify,'' McLaughlin said. Weather conditions, winds, transportation needs and available land for eight to 12 syndicates to set up base camps are some of the issues that have to be considered, he said.

Passero said there is land at State Pier that could be used temporarily for staging, like an Olympic Village.

John Johnson, one of the chief organizers of the successful OpSail 2000 that brought more than a dozen tall ships and about 900,000 visitors to New London, is also on the committee and is floating another idea.

Johnson wants to get Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts working together to have a tri-state event. He proposes that New Bedford, Mass. - which he called a sister city to New London because of its similarities to the Whaling City in terms of a deep port and vacant available waterfront - and New London could host the challenge races. Each city would have four syndicates. Newport would host a semifinal challenge race and the America's Cup race.

"This competition, (and the tri-state area) could be seen all over the world,'' Johnson said. "We have a tremendous heritage here. There are a tremendous amounts of synergies."

San Francisco, Newport and San Diego are lobbying hard.

San Diego thinks it has an edge because Ellison's crews practiced there for 16 months, according to published reports. Newport believes it's in the game because Ellison recently bought the Astor family's Beechwood mansion in Newport for $10.5 million.

According to The New York Times, shortly after winning the race, Ellison said his first choice was San Francisco, but he also said he wanted competing teams from around the world to help make the decision.

Johnson said all three eastern states would have to support the idea of making a bid for the race and would probably have to supply some seed money to get the process started. But most funding would come from corporate or private sources. He also wants to involve surrounding towns, such as Groton.

Mayor Rob Pero agreed.

"For this to go forward in any way, shape or form, the state needs to be involved,'' Pero said.

k.edgecomb@theday.com