Here's a couple of suggestions for the next contest: 1) Madate that all crew on board be citizens of the country their boat represents. I think it's absurd to require that the boat be constructed entirely in country, but allow teams to shop the world for crew. 2) Require the defender to guarantee a purchase of at least $1,000,000.00 of television advertising across whatever networks/stations broadcast the race live nationwide. Assuming a LV Cup runoff, require each challenger to similarly buy $500,000.00 of TV advertising and the winner to kick in an additional $500,000.00. Maybe then we could get at least one channel to cover it.
My guess is that you will actually see some movement in the national sailor direction. Probably something along the lines of a particular percentage of your team must be from your nation.
If the event is large enough (like the 32nd cup), TV purchases rights to broadcast the event. Unfortunately for us, Versus (in the US) lost their butt when they covered it in 2007 - we may be watching on the internet again until some AC racing takes place in US waters.
