| Grounded At Sea  Which is the oldest trophy in sport? Football’s FA Cup, of course. Which is the most expensive sport in the world? Formula One, but naturally. In which sport do big money, big egos and big mouths collide in a constant clamour? Heavy-weight boxing, without a doubt. Wrong every time. It is yachting’s America’s Cup, which began in 1851, 20 years before the FA Cup. It is still going even though no one but the Americans won for 132 years. Right now it is being sailed off the coast of Spain between a yacht from New Zealand, a country of naturally nautical islanders, and another from Switzerland, a country surrounded by land on all sides.  Among those who have actually raced in this ultra-prestigious event are media magnate Ted Turner and software tycoon Larry Ellison. The leader of the champion Swiss team is a biotech billionaire named Ernesto Bertarelli. The collective budget for teams competing in the America’s Cup crosses $500 million without sneezing. The Cup could have turned into an event meant only for the monstrously rich and the chronically famous. For mad billionaires willing to gamble away their moolah for extra cred at the home yacht club. In any case, the sport is also extremely spectator and TV-unfriendly. But still the lure of America’s Cup is growing. Olympic medallists vie to make it to competing syndicates even though one NBA player’s salary can pay for an entire Cup team. Boats are covered with the logos of big-ticket sponsors and mounted with cameras and mikes that fill TV screen with sea spray and the swearing of sailors. The challenger races for the right to meet defending Swiss yacht Alinghi included first-time teams from South Africa and China. The New Zealand Government has put in $26 million in the 2007 challenge, after Bertarelli signed up leading Kiwi yachtsmen and went on to win the Cup for the Swiss in 2003. The venue for the Cup defence was open to bidding, and already the turnstiles at the racing dock in Valencia, Spain, have registered five million entries. The port city has been revitalised. Bertarelli, despised by many for competing with his cheque book, says he wants to make the Cup self-sustaining and not dependant on the deep pockets of a few. Everyone opposing Formula One in India should take a cue from what is happening out at sea in Spain. Behind every extravagant sporting event, lies an opportunity.
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