Sir Keith Mills, the businessman who hopes to lead an English challenge for the America’s Cup, is happy that Alinghi have taken a 4-2 lead over Emirates Team New Zealand after their victory on Saturday.

Mills does not wish to see the event depart to Auckland, but his prospects of being the “challenger of record” if Alinghi win disappeared yesterday when politics took over from racing in the 32nd America’s Cup.

The scheduled race was abandoned in winds considered too light and unstable for a contest, so all eyes turned to Vava, the private superyacht of Ernesto Bertarelli, the president of Alinghi, where the great and the good of Spanish sailing and Valencian politics were to be seen on board.

Their presence laid bare the plans of Alinghi, the holders from Switzerland, for the 33rd cup should they retain the trophy after the rescheduled race on Tuesday, in which a win would give them a 5-2 triumph in the best-of-nine series.

The challenger of record — the team who act as an administrator for the other challengers and have some, albeit limited, say in the protocol, the rules of the next race — will be Desafio Español, the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finalists from Spain. The race will be held in Valencia again, probably in 2009.

The challengers have already signed the document in a process that has to take place immediately because the defenders are bound by the “Deed of Gift” — the rules of the cup laid down in 1887 — to accept the first challenge it receives. No defender wants to risk another challenger butting in.

That the deal was done could be gleaned from the way that Francisco Camps, the President of the Valencia region, waved to the crowds from Vava. Ignacio Sánchez Galán, the president of Desafio Español, who is head of Iberdrola, the Spanish energy giant and the main sponsor of Desafio, was also on board. Galán was accompanied by Manuel Chirivella, the vice-president of the Royal Spanish Yachting Federation, who is from Valencia, and José María Álvarez, Desafio Español’s legal adviser.

Conspicuously absent was any politician from Madrid. The Valencia bid, signed in November 2003, was unsettled in March 2004, when a left-wing government was elected in Madrid and was immediately at loggerheads with the Valencia government, which has long been right wing.

The bid was administered by national, regional and local government — at a cost of €1 billion (about £675 million), with a further €400 million spent on upgrading the airport and tramway — but some money from Madrid was suddenly not forthcoming.

It would seem that Bertarelli has come to an agreement with the Valencia region for his fee for the 33rd America’s Cup. He received an estimated €50 million for bringing the 32nd cup to the city, but was seeking an increase to €85 million.

A further issue is Bertarelli’s dream of linking the cup to the Formula One circuit by taking the Louis Vuitton Cup qualifying races round to its venues as part of a deal to be struck with Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s ringmaster.

So many political and financial interests are involved, the cup may have been compromised. Many of the other challengers are worried that the challenger of record, who is supposed to negotiate hard on their behalf, has neither the experience nor the will to challenge Bertarelli and that he will be have undue influence on the race protocol.

How they stand

Valencia (best-of-nine races)

Team Alinghi (Switz) lead Emirates Team New Zealand 4-2

First race: Team Alinghi won by 35sec. Second race: Emirates Team New Zealand won by 28sec. Third race Emirates Team New Zealand won by 25sec. Fourth race Team Alinghi won by 40sec. Fifth race Team Alinghi won by 19sec. Sixth race Team Alinghi won by 28sec.

Schedule

Seventh race (tomorrow). If needed: Eighth race (Wednesday). Ninth race (Thursday).