In an aerial view of the final race of 1983 America’s Cup competition, Australia II, right, pulls away from Liberty, the U.S. yacht, in the race that decided the Cup series. The Providence Journal / Richard Benjamin

Will the America’s Cup return to Newport? And could there be an economic gold mine in the race for that silver trophy?

The spectacle of America’s Cup yachts flying anew across Rhode Island Sound became more than a shot in the dark after software billionaire Larry Ellison — who apparently bought Astors’ Beechwood Mansion on Bellevue Avenue recently — won the 33rd America’s Cup challenge on Sunday in Valencia, Spain.

Ellison, whose BMW Oracle team seized the Cup for the Golden Gate Yacht Club, immediately cited San Diego, San Francisco, and Newport as possible venues for the next Cup challenge, expected to be held in 2013.

America's Cup

Audio slideshow: Journal staff writer Doug Riggs remembers, 'Cup summers were magical times'

Your Turn: Would you like to see the America's Cup return to Newport?

Study on America's Cup economic impact, Valencia, Spain

Second study with similar results

Recap the 33rd America's Cup competition

Ellison's BMW ORACLE racing team

Herreshoff Marine Museum and America's Cup Hall of Fame

New York Yacht Club, Newport

For a state drowning in a 12.7-percent unemployment rate, a return of the America’s Cup races, by some estimates, could inject millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

It could also put Newport — steeped in America’s Cup tradition — back in the international spotlight. That light last shone in 1983, when U.S. sailors lost the Cup to Australia. Away went the balls and the bacchanal that came with it.

The possibility of a return has stirred statewide interest, and a quickly assembled America’s Cup committee is exploring the costs and benefits of wooing the races back to Rhode Island. It will deliver that information to Governor Carcieri as soon as next week.

“The governor believes it’s a great opportunity to bring home one of the most prestigious and historic sporting events back to Newport, where it belongs,” spokeswoman Amy Kempe said on Wednesday.

BMW Oracle Racing owner Larry Ellison kisses the America’s Cup after winning it.

AP / Alberto Saiz

Larry Fisher, executive director of the Herreshoff Marine Museum and America’s Cup Hall of Fame, said, “Apart from the great tradition and spectacle that the race is, and all that leads up to it, it’s a great opportunity for economic development.”

Fisher cites two recent studies that determined the economic impact on the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia to be “in the realm of 70,000 jobs created, and billions of dollars.” Fisher said, “The opportunity for this magnitude of jobs-creation and this kind of economic impact will not be ignored by any venue that wishes to host the next America’s Cup competition.”

“I can’t tell you how excited I am about this opportunity, but this is the beginning point,” said Keith Stokes, recently appointed executive director of the state’s Economic Development Corporation and former director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s almost the equivalent of bringing back the Olympics to Athens.” Stokes said. “So certainly, if there’s an opportunity, we’re going to do everything we can to prepare a competitive bid.”

Stokes said Narragansett Bay “is one of the most important sailing locations in all of America,” with unrivaled services and docks. He also cited the economic impact studies of the 2007 Valencia event that Fisher referenced.

American BMW Oracle BOR 90 sails during the second race of the 33rd America’s Cup against Swiss defender Alinghi off Valencia, Spain, on Sunday.

AP / Victor R. Caivano

Any host community for America’s Cup will have to invest in significant infrastructure, including ship facilities, marine travel lifts, docks and basins and boardwalks, Stokes said, but some of that could remain as permanent improvements. He, like others who spoke about the proposal, ventured that an event of this size today would have to be spread across the Bay, benefiting not only Newport, but Jamestown, Bristol, possibly Quonset Point and Portsmouth as well.

Dr. Robin Wallace, chairman of the Rhode Island Yachting Committee, said there has been “significant encouragement” from the governor’s office “to please investigate this and report back.” Wallace said committee members started working on it Tuesday, and will present a brief to the governor “sometime next week.”

Wallace said that, though the expected date for the next America’s Cup race is 2013, “if the Newport area is selected, by next year we would expect to see crews from the challenging clubs arriving here to learn how to sail on Rhode Island Sound … to learn the physical nature of Rhode Island Sound,” including studying its wind patterns. Those people have to live somewhere, and eat somewhere, he said. The media would follow, and employment levels would rise at shipyards and various other facilities.

Ellison, founder of Oracle (one of the world’s largest software companies) and one of the world’s richest men, apparently purchased the storied Astor’s Beechwood mansion last fall for $10.5 million. How strongly Ellison feels about Newport as the next Cup venue is unclear.

Jane Eagleson, spokeswoman for Ellison’s BMW Oracle team, said in an e-mail, “Our team was very focused on the challenge of winning the 33rd America’s Cup and so we have not started the process for the 34th America’s Cup.” The objective “is to find the best venue possible.”

BMW Oracle Racing helmsman’s James Spithill, left, sprays champagne on the team’s owner Larry Ellison, right, after winning the 33rd America’s Cup on Sunday.

AP / Alberto Saiz

David Elwell Jr., commodore of the New York Yacht Club in Newport, cited Rhode Island’s advantages over San Francisco Bay and San Diego — two other possible venues that Ellison mentioned.

“San Francisco Bay is large, but the areas of the Bay that have the deep water are not that big, and they also happen to have major shipping channels in the middle of where you would race,” Elwell said. “San Diego is certainly a possibility. The sailing there tends to be much lighter winds.”

Elwell said he expects that Ellison “will send some people [to Rhode Island] in the near future to discuss it. And I would hope the state government would appreciate the economic benefit in bringing the event to Rhode Island.”

Meanwhile, many are rooting from the sidelines.

David Brooker, who owns the America’s Cup Inn on Mary Street, said, “It would be wonderful … I hope [the reports] are true.”

The America’s Cup race “has such close ties to the history of Newport, and for so many years the two were synonymous, obviously,” he said. “There is a lot of nostalgia … so many tales and stories about it that have become folklore and legend.”

“That will never end,” Brooker said, and “people hope it will be revived.”

For more information on the America’s Cup, visit the Herreshoff Marine Museum/America’s Cup Hall of Fame at www.herreshoff.org.

TIMELINE

America’s Cup

Aug. 22, 1851: The schooner America wins a race against 15 English yachts around the Isle of Wight and is awarded a silver trophy that becomes known as the America’s Cup. Six years later, the syndicate that built the yacht donates the cup to the New York Yacht Club.

1870: The Royal Yacht Club mounts the first challenge to return the cup to England, but loses.

1871-1980: Two dozen separate challenges are made for the Cup, all unsuccessful. It is the longest-winning streak in the history of sport.

1930: Newport hosts the Cup races for the first time. The city hosts the next 11.

Sept. 26, 1983: The wing-keeled Australia II defeats the Liberty, ending the 133-year U.S. winning streak; the next races are held in Australia.

kziner@projo.com