BERMUDA sailor and official Peter Shrubb has just been named an umpire for the finals of the America’s Cup due to start later this month off Valencia, Spain. Shrubb, who has been putting in a lot of time officiating international regattas around the world including being the chief umpire last year for the Women’s World Championships in Denmark, has so far worked numerous series in the the Louis Vuitton Cup. And then this week he was named as an umpire for the America’s Cup final series pitting Team New Zealand against Alinghi from the Swiss syndicate.Team New Zealand>thrashed Luna Rossa 5-0 on Wednesday to win the Louis Vuitton Cup to get the opportunity to try to grab the America’s Cup back from the Swiss.

Shrubb said yesterday from his apartment in Spain: ‘’It’s not bad is it? I was named (as an umpire) a couple days ago.”

When he started his international career as an official, Shrubb said: “I would have never have thought about getting to this point. You know that it out there but you never think that you will make it to the finals of the America’s Cup.”

Shrubb has been in Valencia since March umpiring the numerous races which all lead up to this moment.

“I have been here for two months. We have had the fleet race, round robins, semi-finals and then the finals which finished this week. Now we have two weeks before the finals match starts. During that time we will do in-house training h Team New Zealand and Alinghi. They each have two boats of their own. They will sail against each other and we will umpire those races and then get debriefed each day. We get into the finer points of the rules — it all gets a bit more technical when we get to this level.”

And during the America’s Cup, like other huge world sporting events, there are cameras everywhere. “They have helicopters up filming and cameras all over the place. Everyone is watching. At the end of the day you can’t hide from a mistake.”

After becoming an international umpire Shrubb began working his way up the America’s Cup ladder.

“There are about 100 (international umpires) in the world. Then out of that 100 they select 35 for the America’s Cup team. After that it gets narrowed down as boats are eliminated so it was narrowed down to 24 on March 23. After the semi-finals it was reduced to 11 umpires and now it is down to five umpires plus the chief umpire,” he said. And Shrubb is one of those five.

“We will be on separate boats — 28-foot inflatables. We have three umpires in one boat and two in the other. Between us we will officiate the match,” he said.

The weather and wind off of Valencia “is not too bad”. He said: “I suppose it is a bit like off the north shore (of Bermuda). Each race lasts for about one and half hours — about 10 miles long.”

After Shrubb decided to put his heart into umpiring, he worked his way through the ranks. “You get rated by fellow umpires — we all have different strengths and weaknesses. In the end they put the best umpires together for the America’s Cup.”

Bermuda Olympic sailor Peter Bromby said yesterday of Shrubb’s appointment as an umpire for the America’s Cup finals: “To help explain the magnitude of what Peter has achieved, it is the equivalent of him being asked to officiate in the World (football) Cup final. It is a big feather in his cap and it is great that this son of our soil is being recognised like this.“He has been through years of training and going to different umpiring seminars and also been officiating at different events for a while now. To be chosen to do the America’s Cup final must be the greatest honour he can have from an umpiring point of view. It speaks volumes for him — he obviously earned the respect of the sailing world in terms of umpiring.”

Shrubb is the Rear Commodore of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club with responsibility for sailing. He is also presently the Bermuda J24 Match Racing champion and is an active J105 and Laser sailor.

Andy Cox, commodore of the RBYC, said yesterday: “It is a very high honour for him. We have been following Peter in this (officiating) role for some time now and he obviously has been on the radar with ISAF and the America’s Cup management for some time now.

“We at the RBYC are just thrilled about it. Peter was always a very good sailor. He did step back from the Committee of Management for the club to concentrate on business for a while and then he picked up the challenge of umpiring and he has got better and better. It is fabulous news.”

Cox, who said he will be flying out for the duel between the Kiwis and Swiss off of Valencia starting on June 23, said: “To make it to the final is really something — Peter is obviously really well regarded now.”

Only one other Bermudian has been involved with officiating in an America’s Cup. Veteran sailor Kirk Cooper was on the jury for the 1983 America’s Cup when Australia beat the Americans and finally took the cup away from Newport.

Cooper was very happy by the news yesterday that Shrubb had been chosen as an umpire for the finals.

“Peter has worked very hard for it and he deserves it. He is good at it and likes it. I am delighted to hear he has been appointed as an umpire. It is great for Bermuda and great for Peter.”

Remembering back to those exciting times in 1983 off Newport, Rhode Island, Cooper said: “I was on the jury and I was one of five members. It was the first time they (the Americans) got defeated but it was very, very close. The American skippeof Liberty) Dennis Conner was leading on the last leg of the last race and lost it.”

In the end Australia II beat Liberty 4-3 in the series.

Cooper said that this was the first time that the New York Yacht Club (who held the cup) allowed a jury to take over as an international body. “And there were no Americans on that committee,” he said adding that the NYYC were persuaded that they would be better off having “us as an independent jury where we will listen to the protests and rule on it accordingly”.

When Australia II won the final contest in the seven-race series, it had achieved the impossible and ended 132 years of American domination of the America’s Cup. Australian skipper John Bertrand sailed his Ben Lexcen design, featuring a radical winged keel, to victory over Conner’s Liberty, ending what had been called the longest winning streak in sport.

The Cup left New York for a new home in Perth, Australia.

Cooper added: “The boats they use now are giants by comparison to the old 12-metres. They are totally different.”

There were scenes of jubilation on Wednesday in Valencia and New Zealand when Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton Cup and set up a showdown with Swiss syndicate Alinghi.

The usually reserved Kiwi crew jumped into each other’s arms, whooping and cheering.

The Kiwis lost the America’s Cup off Auckland in 2003 after a group of their best sailors defected to Swiss syndicate Alinghi, who brought the Cup to Europe for the first time since the original race in 1851.

In New Zealand itself there was much celebrating — and a wish to get some payback.

“One cup down, one to go,” said the Dominion Post newspaper, while the New Zealand Herald said “Team NZ gets chance for revenge”.

The mayor of New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, Dick Hubbard, said it was ready to show its support for the America’s Cup, with screens likely to be set up for public viewing of the final series.

“We hope Aucklanders show their support as it comes down to crunch time,” Hubbard said.

The finals will be a best of nine races affair.

Bermudian in America’s Cup final