No Headline Present

A patchy performance last year left the British team in fifth place from the seven teams competing. 1993 was no better, finishing sixth from eight, and in 1991 Britain managed a vaguely respectable fourth from eight.

Now as the event itself undergoes radical surgery in an attempt to rebuild it into something resembling the glory days of the late 1970s when 19 or 20 three-boat international teams competed, plans are in place to ensure that it is the home team which lift the principal trophy at the next Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup in July 1999.

The Royal Yachting Association have formed a steering group with the express aim of winning the cup in 1999 and have appointed Harold Cudmore, the widely experienced team boss who masterminded the last British win, to chair the group to try to work a similar magic this time round.

The principal aims of the new look Admiral's Cup has been to make it all more affordable, equable and interesting. The introduction of a second One Design class to complement the smaller Mumm 36, which was introduced in 1995, has been decided in favour of the Australian Iain Murray designed Sydney 40.

The builders Bashford Boats will make a pool of boats available for hire for the event at a nominal fee of #1 excluding sails, while the third class - an IMS-rated bigger boat - should also be drawn from fleets more in keeping with what is being raced worldwide.

''In all, the changes have invigorated me to become involved again. I'm enthused by the whole idea and if we can get the interest levels up very early on then I'm confident we can put together a good team,'' explained Cudmore who has tasted success at every level of yacht racing and competed at the Admiral's Cup since 1977.

Cudmore wants to play on the home advantage from the start and build a team which will practise regularly out on the race tracks near Cowes. His goal is to encourage at least two owners or crews to take up campaigns in the Mumm 36 Class, which he claims are much more realistically costed now. Already in place is the offer of a free, competitive Mumm 36 which the owner does not wish to campaign, but the key to improvements will be regular two boat tuning and practice.

Serious interest in the British team slot will require a full Mumm European circuit campaign including the Mumm World Championships in Germany next year.

Cudmore and the RYA's National Keelboat Coach Bill Edgerton have estimated that the Mumm campaign will cost in the region of #100-150,000. ''Obviously if someone can bring a sponsor on board for their campaign so much the better, but at the moment that is up to individuals themselves,'' Cudmore affirms.

Cudmore is also trying to ensure that an owner - or ideally more than one owner - chooses to buy a Sydney 40 outright and similarly campaigns it internationally, but again finds the time to practise on the race areas, and in a two-boat tuning and practising scenario.

''We are in situation where we have to go back to school and do some learning if we want to be back up with the likes of New Zealand and America and perhaps Italy if we want to be competitive and the sooner we face up to this the better,'' he maintained.

''In Britain we have never really had a set-up which has fully supported our professional sailors and they have been driven to race for other countries.''

While he does not currently expect to have to run trials to select the British team, he emphasises that at the moment he wants to hear from anyone and everyone whose interested.

''There is no reason why a Scottish owner and crew shouldn't get involved this time if they they show the commitment and motivation,'' he said, confirming that they would be expected to fulfil the same requirement of practising hard on the Solent and surrounding race areas.

He hopes to have heard from all interested parties by May 22 and a month later to be reviewing the plans submitted.

A formula Cudmore would like to utilise further is the successful pairing of younger sailors such as Olympic silver medallists John Merricks - who died in a tragic accident last autumn - Ian Walker and Ben Ainslie. With limited big boat racing experience last year they teamed up with experienced hands like David Howlett and produced Britain's best result last year as the Mumm 36 Bradamante finished top in its class. ''We see our role as being able to integrate the best younger talent with some of the older heads to help them up the learning curve much quicker.''

Cudmore's task is made doubly time critical as a resurgence of interest is already simmering, partially prompted by other changes.

The classic 600-mile Fastnet Race will no longer be part of the Admiral's Cup - the prospect of which was described by one commentator as being akin to ''Wimbledon without the grass'', and in its place is a 450-500 mile Wolf Rock race.

The series has been pulled

forward so it does not coincide with Cowes Week and compacted into two rather than three weeks. Already the RORC have had positive feedback which suggests a South American team may materialise, and they are talking of 10 or 12 teams coming to the start line.

While stalwarts such as Graham Walker, who has competed in six Admiral's Cups, have given notice that his days racing at the Admiral's Cup may be over, Cudmore is hoping the next few weeks will reveal the pool of talent, and that it will be his selection and management skills, rather than press-ganging which produces a quality British team capable of winning.