America's Cup: First Meeting Draws 20 Possible Challenger's The first meeting for prospective challengers for the America's Cup drew representatives from 39 clubs in ten nations--and several have yet to surface. Two Australian yacht clubs, two Canadian, three French, one each from Great Britain, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Japan, Italy, Russia, Switzerland and seven from the United States were on hand for preliminary discussions, although oniy one, the New York Yacht Club, which is the challenger of record, has paid the entry fee.

There seems to be a whole group of people who want to take a crack at the New Zealanders who won the Ould Mug last year. Some familiar faces are in the wings--such as Australia's Steven Fisher and the Australian John Bertrand, Canadian Bruce Kirby (he lives in Rowayton, Connecticut and designed the Olympic class Laser), John Marshall of Pact 2000, Tom Ehman representing Den- nis Conner Sports, Inc., Vincent Moyersome for Bill Koch and the U.S. John Bertrand.

The close of the challenge period is said to be May 15, but dates such as this have often been ignored in the past. The New York Yacht Club wants to make sure that only bona fde yacht clubs participate because the Cup is indeed a match between clubs, not between nations.

"We need to be sure that the Americas' Cup remains a challenge between two yacht clubs , rather than those who are in it for financial reasons," said the New York Yacht Club's Dyer Jones. Meanwhile, the Kiwis are reported to have found sponsors even at this early date and one of the Ca- nadian challenges is said to be fully sponsored.

But speaking of'fnancial reasons,' Defence 2000, a New Zealand independent report on the Cup had this to say last month about Kiwi Skipper Russell Coutts: "While influential members of Team New Zealand are saying they will do 'whatever it takes' to have Russell Coutts on board for the defence of the America's Cup in 2000, the man himself certainly displays a new cash-register kind of loyalty. In a recent issue of SAILING magazine, Coutts is quoted as saying 'I know I'll be in- volved with one syndicate or another, but as for being part of the defence, I'm not committed."

A quarter-million dollar grand prize is once again being offered in 1996 to any skipper and crew who can win three of fve international events in the Brut Sailing Series. As in its 1995 inaugural season, the most competitive and richest group of sailing regattas in the world will award an additional $50,000 among the top three point winners when all five events conclude in October. These bonus prizes are in addition to regular event purses ranging from $25,000 to $100,000.

The 1996 Brut Sailing Series will take place in Lymington, Enqland, May 13-18; San Fran- cisco, May 28-June 2; Yacht Club de Sete, France, June 17-20; Long Island, NY, Aug. 27-Sept 1; and Bermuda, Oct. 5-13. All told, these are some of the most challenging sailing waters for match racing in the world.

In 1995, the individual events drew 52 skippers and more than 210 sailors to compete in this only professional, international sailing series. Skippers race in identical boats and, like the America's Cup, it's a one-on-one format making it easy to follow. Each of the fve races will be televised as a 30-minute highlight show on&127ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN International. The programs are expected to reach more than 128 million homes in 86 countries. Gary Jobson will be the ESPN commentator.