It's all about money

There isn't going to be a Challenger series.

There is going to be a Deed of Gift race.

It doesn't have anything to do with Ernesto (Bertarelli, SUI). America's Cup Management (ACM). Or Société Nautique de Genève (SNG). It doesn't have anything to do with Justice Cahn, either. Or Golden Gate Yacht Club. Or Larry Ellison (USA). Or any of them.

Except, of course, all of them, indirectly.

Even if Ernesto desperately wanted to compete as Defender in a conventional, re-negotiated Challenger-driven America's Cup in 2009, there is one huge, enormous piece missing.

An underwriting sponsor for the Challenger series.

With Louis Vuitton's departure and Ernesto's hubris/arrogance/anger (pick one), nobody has picked up the slack and nobody we know is waiting in the wings to write big checks.

If Ernesto had someone ready to invest in a Challenger series, believe me, it would be all over the planet and we would certainly know about it by now. But it ain't. And we don't. And unless Ernesto has the world's greatest surprise tucked away in his sail bag (like Rolex or Nestlé or Swiss Army or anybody, for that matter), we aren't likely to hear anything about an underwriting sponsor for a Challenger series for America's Cup 2009, anytime soon.

Ernesto will wait until the last yawning moment, defined probably by the timetable of the New York Supreme Court, then accede (loudly/aggressively/competitively/angrily/blamingly, pick one) to a Deed of Gift competition with BMW Oracle (USA).

Even if he signed a major sponsor tomorrow, which is unlikely, that sponsor and their promotional agencies would barely have time to organize the investment and design the program before the Summer of 2009.

Already, the promotional commitments of major corporations for 2008 have been completed.

That happened early this year, if not in the Autumn of 2006. The earliest any corporate planners could get any kind of conceptual program together to secure board approval for the investment would be late Spring 2008, if not post-Summer 2008.

There's just not enough time to make it happen.

Which begs some inevitable questions.

Did Ernesto actively seek sponsorship and underwriting? Or did he ignore it? Is this something he doesn't like to do and, in fact, cannot do?

Remember, he inherited Louis Vuitton.

And his humility (sic) isn't the kind of thing that can easily play second fiddle to the emotions and ambitions of a major corporate underwriter. You have to make corporate entities feel like the giants they believe themselves to be.

This would be extraordinarily difficult for Ernesto. Remember, he is the tall tree, none taller.

And remember, Louis Vuitton was a different matter entirely. Ernesto had little to do with Louis Vuitton's involvement in America's Cup. It was Bruno Troublé's passion for the event, his vision for the Louis Vuitton Cup, and Louis Vuitton's trust in his vision that made the Challenger Series a hallmark of the America's Cup and a fixture in world sport.

Can you believe how difficult it will be to install an underwriter of this caliber?

In time for the Summer of 2009?

Goodness, gracious me.

So let's loft those multihulls and sharpen those hydrofoils.

It's Deed of Gift time.