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China to vie for the America's Cup
Wang Chaoyong, chairman of China Equity Investment and Xavier de Lesquen, co-founder of Le Defi, a French Sports management company, plan to set up a joint venture that will open the way for China to participate in the America's Cup for the first time in 2007. The leading Chinese venture capital investor also announced that US$32 million will be invested into forming the sailing team, to be called "China Team," to challenge for the world's most prestigious sailing trophy. . According to Wang, China Team is joining forces with Le Defi, which has competed in the past two events, and with the experience of the French firm, will become the only Asian team taking part in the 2007 race. Wang said talks with the China Aquatic Sports Administration Centre over possible co-operation are underway and the scouting, selecting and training of Chinese sailors and other crew will begin later in 2005. De Lesquen, who led Le Defi's unsuccessful challenges in the last two races, including a semi-final finish in the qualifiers and fifth place in the final of 2004, said he hoped to join the formal list of challengers with China by the deadline of April 29. But much work is still to be done, he said. "We will go step by step. Right now, we are going to transform a used boat into a standard one to compete in the 2005 stages. Then we will build a new one for the team," he said. The French sailor is also trying to relieve concerns over whether there will be any Chinese crew on the boat. "The Swiss holder Alinghi's crew were mainly from New Zealand and Germany," he said. "For the time being we will recruit the main crew from France and little by little, we are going to introduce Chinese sailors." He said there will be about 100 crew in 2007 with 35 critical positions needing to be filled as soon as possible. As a big-money event, which is relatively unknown in China when compared to last year's F1 grand prix in Shanghai, there are worries it will have trouble attracting sponsors and spectators. But Wang said he was in touch with a number of booming Chinese firms that are aiming to increase their profile on the international stage. "It is a chance for Chinese companies to promote their image through the event, which attracts millions of viewers. "More importantly, as long as our team achieves a good result, more people will pay attention to China's sailing sports." Wang was echoed by Michel Bonnefous, manager of the America's cup. "We are excited about the possibility of a strong Chinese project for the 32nd America's Cup. This is a positive step and one which corresponds to our desire for further development of the cup throughout the world. The values of the America's Cup are not just Western, they are global," said Bonnefous. Eight teams have so far formally signed up to challenge holders Alinghi for the 2007 America's Cup, which is due to take place in Valencia, Spain. They are BMW-Oracle from the United States, Team New Zealand, Team Shosholoza of South Africa, -39 Challenge and Luna Rossa from Italy, Sweden's Victory, K-Challenge from France and Spain's El Reto. For China Team, who will have to confirm their bid before the deadline, training and the building of the boat are expected to take place in Qingdao, the site of the sailing events for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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