alt WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND, the venue for the Olympic sailing events in 2012, is hoping to launch a bid to stage the America's Cup which could be worth up to half-a-billion pounds to the region.

 

Sir Keith Mills, the former chief executive of London 2012 and amateur sailor,  this week launched the ambitious campaign to win the coveted trophy in either 2009 or 2011.

 

Experts estimate that the staging of the cup would bring a boost of up to £500 million to the south coast of England.

John Tweed, who is the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy director of development, said: "If we did get it, it would be an immeasurable benefit to the area.
 
"There's a lot of data to show that when Auckland in New Zealand hosted the cup the financial benefits were immense.
 
"We would be drawing in a lot of big boats and a lot of spectators."
 
Sir Keith launched the ambitious scheme at the Design Museum in London on Thursday.
 
He aims to win the cup within the next five years, which would then mean a venue on the South coast of England hosting the competition when it is defended in home waters.
 
Weymouth could also be considered as a base for the British team during its preparations.
 
"We will be contracting team members, establishing our UK base, acquiring necessary assets and discussing the opportunity with prospective syndicate members and sponsors," said Sir Keith.
 
"In essence, we are open for business."
 
A source close to Sir Keith said that South Coast waters had been earmarked as the venue and refused to rule out Weymouth as a base for the team.
 
He added that an official announcement would be made over the coming weeks. But this is not the first time Weymouth has been at the forefront of British America's Cup bids.
 
In 1996 the Royal Dorset Yacht Club launched an audacious bid for the cup - and consequently the right to host the event.
 
But by 1999 the syndicate behind the bid was forced to back out because it could not drum up enough sponsorship.
 
Such a recurrence of cash-flow problems is unlikely with the latest bid as Sir Keith has agreed to underwrite the entire project, although he expects 50 per cent of the costs to come from sponsorship.
 
Vice-commodore Gareth Peaston, of the Royal Dorset Yacht Club, said: "The boost to the area would be absolutely huge.
 
"I remember when Perth held the America's Cup in the 1980s. There was a place called Fremantle which had certainly seen better days.
 
"But by the time they had finished it was one of the top places in Australia to live."
 
The team will now pick a UK base to start off the attempt in the next six months while the present competition takes place.
 
Britain has never won the cup after losing the inaugural competition to the Americans off the Isle of Wight in 1851.