sailors to next year's event -- because of a clash with the America's Cup.

As many as ten of the world's top skippers -- nine of whom competed in this year's 50th anniversary of the tournament -- could be absent from the 1999 event.

Russell Coutts, who won his fifth Gold Cup title on Sunday, came close to ruling himself out of the 51st competition, citing his own commitments as skipper of the defending Team New Zealand.

"I don't think I'll be able to come back here next year just simply because we have a regatta to run ourselves in New Zealand,'' he said, adding: "I hope all you people will take the opportunity to come down because it really is going to be a festival of sailing.'' Australia's Peter Gilmour, two time winner of the Gold Cup and skipper of Japan's Nippon Challenge for the America's Cup, left the door slightly ajar, but admitted: "We'll be struggling to make it next year.'' Gilmour, currently world number one in the match racing rankings, added: "They call New Zealand God's country, but I think you certainly have that here. This is the Mecca of sailing as far as I'm concerned and if we can fit the tournament in, we will do.'' The first round robin series to decide the challenger to the defending Team New Zealand begins in Auckland on October 25 -- the date of this year's Gold Cup final.

Further series lasting almost two weeks each run from November 15 and December 6 before semi-finals and finals in January and February 2000 will decide who advances to take on the champions in the best of nine America's Cup in late February and March.

Those series will involve a total of 18 challengers from ten countries -- many of them including regular Gold Cup competitors.

Murray Jones, who became the first unseeded finalist in Gold Cup history on Sunday, was tactician on Team New Zealand in 1995 and is still heavily involved with the defence of the trophy.

Peter Holmberg, the world number three on the match-racing rankings, will skipper the US Virgin Islands' challenge, while Kiwi Gavin Brady, losing quarter-finalist to Coutts in successive Gold Cups, was last week recruited to Dawn Riley's America True syndicate -- one of five challengers from the United States. The designated helmsman for America True is John Cutler, another New Zealander, who finished eighth at this year's Gold Cup.

Others who must be doubtful are Francesco di Angelis, who will skipper Italy's America's Cup challenger, Team Prada , Dean Barker, another member of Team New Zealand, and Briton Chris Law, who it was rumoured last week could be part of the UK's challenge.

Ed Baird, who competed in the 1997 Gold Cup, will skipper another US challenger, PACT2000 , while Paul Cayard, winner of the Whitbread but who failed to make it through the qualifiers in Bermuda this year, will captain AmericaOne .

Nobody from the Gold Cup organising committee was available for comment yesterday.

Russell Coutts