60886 The previous competition was a best of seven races, but this time the Cup winner will be the first team to score five victories in nine races.
60887 "The America's Cup is based on Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection.The weak are weeded out and only the strongest survive."
60888 Speaking passionately is the man in charge of the Louis Vuitton Cup races, Pat Healey, in the office of the America's Cup Organizing Committee overlooking San Diego Bay.
60889 According to Healey, only one time has the strongest not won, that exception being the previous competition.
60890 The overwhelming winner at the world championships, the Il Moro di Venezia was thought to have the advantage, but in an upset, the America3, advancing from the Defender's Series, was victorious.
60891 So, what about this time?
60892 "In terms of the Theory of Natural Selection, the previous competition was won on luck.This time, the winner of the Challenger's Series, with its overall ability and excellence, will control the America's Cup races," he says with confidence.
60893 The reason is that the eight teams vying fiercely for the Challenger's Cup must compete in more races and have more opportunities to hone their strategy than the three teams competing in the Defender's Cup, as the yacht registration for the boats used in both the Defender's and Challenger's Series now falls on the same day.
60894 In the previous competition, the Challenger had to first notify the Defender, creating a disparity in the level of fairness.
60895 Which syndicate will capture the Cup?
60896 Only one of the three teams belonging to the San Diego Yacht Club in the US that are racing in the Citizen's Cup, and one of the eight teams from five different countries that are racing as Challengers in the Louis Vuitton Cup will have the honor of racing in the America's Cup.
60897 The prospects for both the Citizen Cup and Louis Vuitton Cup Series have been reviewed.
60898 The main contender will likely be One Australia, which won the America's Cup Class world championships held last October.
60899 John Bertrand, the Australian national hero, has returned as skipper, and with the addition of Rod Davis, who was the skipper for New Zealand in the previous Cup competition, they have gained a reputation as the ones to watch.