Now it is official. Germany will definitely not be represented at the America's Cup. The Düsseldorf Yacht Club took back the challenge.
The illbruck challenge managing director Glenn Bourke informed the Challenger of Record Management (CORM) that the syndicate will not take part in the elimination races for the Louis Vuitton Cup starting in Auckland on October 1st. With that all rumors are off the table that maybe a new donor could realize the first German AC participation
Meanwhile, the marketers are defending themselves against the blame that Michael Illbruck had raised against them in the YACHT interview (in the current issue 9). "The thing has not been messed up by us", Erik Posten, managing director of Course Challenge Consultants, is quoted by the "Frankfurter Allgemeine". "Mr Illbruck has to touch his own nose."
According to "Frankfurter Allgemeine" Illbruck is said to have made "tactical mistakes" in the search for sponsors. This is one of the reasons why Illbruck was not of interest to BMW, for example. The conclusion of a sponsorship agreement between the Bavarian automobile company and the American America's Cup syndicate Oracle by computer billionaire Larry Ellison, however, is only a matter of form. It should go to 20 million euros.
