Fred Meyer Responds to the Latest AC Court Action.

Would it surprise you to learn that Alinghi and SNG don’t agree with BMW ORACLE over the latest court action? No of course not. SNG Vice-Commodore Fred Meyer was quick to respond yesterday to the Golden Gate Yacht Club’s latest litigation in the New York courts. For those that are still interested here’s what Meyer had to say…

“It’s a shame that BMW Oracle and Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) persist with their campaign to win the America’s Cup through litigation rather than on the water. This is the sixth time that they’ve taken the Defender to court. It is possible that Larry Ellison continues to revert to the courts to draw attention away from the fact that their boat does not meet the dimensions as per their Certificate of Challenge.

“Golden Gate Yacht Club’s speculations over the conduct of the Match before the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions have even been written and published are simply premature and self-serving. They are designed to denigrate the reputation and achievements of the Swiss Defender, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), as well as the America’s Cup itself. BMW Oracle is once again dragging the America’s Cup through the courts on baseless grounds.

“The rules of the America’s Cup Match are as the donors of the Deed of Gift wrote over 130 years ago, when other American yacht clubs were the Defender. They are not as the Golden Gate Yacht Club or BMW Oracle would now, as a Challenger, like them to be, to suit their purposes.

Echoing Kevin Bacon’s words in the great courtroom film ‘A Few Good Men’ – Meyer’s statement says that the facts of the case are this:

1. In absence of mutual agreement between the Defender and the Challenger, the America’s Cup is ruled by the default terms of the Deed of Gift.

2. In accordance with the Deed of Gift, and as with all past America’s Cups, the defending yacht club is the organiser of the Match.

3. The Deed of Gift states that the challenging vessel should not exceed certain measurements. GGYC presented their Certificate of Challenge specifying a 90×90ft yacht. Today they must honour their own volunteered and freely submitted decision and their competing yacht must match those dimensions, as required by the Deed of Gift and ordered by Justice Kornreich. SNG does not wish to see GGYC disqualified; they have enough time to modify their boat so that it measures.

4. The rules of the Match will be the Deed of Gift, and the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing written and promulgated by the International Sailing Federation and used by yacht clubs all over the world, including GGYC and SNG.

5. The rules of the Match will be set out in a Notice of Race to be published on 6 November 2009 and in the Sailing Instructions to be published on 8 January 2010. These dates are considerably earlier than when an American Defender – whose Chief Operating Officer was Tom Ehman – provided the same documents to the then Challenger in 1988 when the Cup was last competed for under the strict terms of the Deed of Gift.

6. SNG has voluntarily provided GGYC with advance details of the rules and procedures affecting the construction and measurement of the competing yachts and continues to answer questions from and provide information to GGYC about these matters to allow them to prepare their yacht “USA”.

7. All Umpires and members of the International Jury will be solely selected by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). Like all regattas and sporting competitions they, like the competitors, will be bound by the rules of the competition.

8. The Supreme Court of the State of New York has reviewed the agreement between SNG and ISAF, which follows past agreements approved by GGYC and found that: “[the agreement] is not inconsistent with anything in the Deed or the applicable rules. There is also nothing untoward about the agreement itself.”

New Volvo Rules Including Changes For Female Crews.

Volvo Ocean Race organisers continue to paint a vision for the future, with the latest in the ’round table’ meetings presented in Galway. There are three pillars that are being used to steer the future of the race – the first element is a technical cost containment and reduction programme, the second, an increase on the value to teams, sponsors and ports involved in the race, and the third is to keep the race seriously attractive to the best sailors in the world.

The latest presentation focussed on technical rule changes to make the race appeal to a larger audience and to limit costs.

VOR CEO Knut Frostad opened the meeting by saying:

“Just like any sailing project the more time we have to prepare ourselves, the better the chances we have of doing a good job,” he said. “Our number one objective is to increase the number of competitors in the next race. We know that we need a larger fleet in the future for the race to be able to reach its full potential.”

“An important element in achieving more boats on the start line in Alicante in 2011 is a reduction of costs and an increase in value for the teams. In the short term, whilst the race is going on and whilst everyone has it fresh in their minds and is focused we have to work on the cost reduction side of the equation. To that end, changes already announced include a reduction in crew members, from 11 to 10, and nearly a 40% reduction in race sails.”

In an effort to encourage female participation, a new rule will allow ‘female’ teams to carry 12 sailors, including the media crew, two of whom may be men. This represents two extra crew members over an all-male crew.

Technical changes were also announced including:

• The maximum weight for the keel fin and bulb will be set at 7,400 kgs in the future.  The fin will be required to be solid, with no fairings permitted.
• The weight of the yacht is to be increased so that it may fit into the range between 14,000 kilograms and 14,500 kilograms.
• Headfoils will be banned; headsails will either be set on furlers or with hanks.
• The overall weight of each yacht’s batteries will be reduced by 100 kgs.
• Each Volvo Open 70 will also be required to carry a renewable energy source capable of generating 80 Watts of electrical power.
• No two-boat testing will be permitted until after the ‘race’ boat has been launched, or after a yet-to-be-defined date, which may be as late as the race start.

The next ‘round table’ session is scheduled for 22 June in Stockholm.

Teams Agree Rules That Ehman Calls Unfair

BMW Oracle’s spokesperson and all round back room wheeler dealer, Tom Ehman, has released a statement for his loyal supporters bemoaning the American team’s exclusion from the discussions about the 33rd edition of the cup. Opinion in the blogosphere was mixed and divided down party lines, but the American team’s choice of arguments were neutralised to a degree by the outcome of the second meeting amongst those teams who have officially entered and don’t have pending law suits against the defender. 

Ehman Objection: “None of the Challengers, except CNEV, has any vote on any matter. Moreover, CNEV is specifically exempted from acting on behalf of the other Challengers.” 

Meeting outcome: 10 of the 12 entered challengers present at the meeting, along with the Defender Alinghi, expressed a unanimous will to work together constructively towards a class rule and regulations that satisfy all entered competitors. 

Ehman Objection: “The Defender, through ACM, selects all race officials and umpires.”

Meeting Outcome: 

• The Arbitration Panel be expanded to five members, with the two additional members being appointed by all the entered competitors through a democratic process 
• The Race Committee has been agreed by all the entered competitors 
• Other America’s Cup Race Officials, the Technical Director and Umpires will be selected following a similar process amongst ISAF officials.