Statement from GGYC

America's Cup defender Societe Nautique de Geneve has been asked if Alinghi 5 will meet the event's nationality rules. In a letter today to SNG, GGYC Commodore Marcus Young wrote, "We find the Deed to be clear and unambiguous. It requires that the yacht, including its hull, appendages, mast and sails, be constructed in the country of the club it represents. We have gone to great lengths to comply with the Deed in all respects, including 'constructed-in-country,' and expect that your Club will do so as well."

Alinghi 5 has been sailing continually with sails made at Minden, Nevada in the USA.

Absent agreement on the constructed-in-country interpretation, the five-member International Jury recently appointed by the International Sailing Federation would be asked to rule on the matter.

Both yachts should come to the start "street-legal." The sailing world expects this, and wants to know before the Match is sailed, not after. Having the Jury in place allows sailing matters to be dealt with by sailing experts.

GGYC's objective is that the on-the-water result of the 33rd Match be conclusive. Any remaining contentious issues should be dealt with properly before the Match is sailed. No one wants the outcome of the Match to have a question mark hanging over it.

Valencia is Final

In a letter written today to New York Supreme Court Justice Kornreich following the unsuccessful discussions with the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), the America's Cup Defender, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), has confirmed that it will conduct a Deed of Gift Match with GGYC in February 2010 in Valencia, which is the date and venue repeatedly requested by GGYC and previously ordered by the Court. SNG has also expressed its intention to publish the 33rd America's Cup Notice of Race with immediate effect.

When SNG's first choice of venue, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, was declared invalid by the New York Supreme Court, the Swiss Defender proposed two alternative Southern Hemisphere venues: Proserpine/Airlie Beach and Townsville in Australia, where the weather conditions are suitable in February.

GGYC's reaction has been to try to delay the Cup and to continue to try and gain competitive advantage while SNG attended the meetings in good faith with the objective of finding a settlement.

While SNG confirms Valencia as the venue for the 33rd America's Cup in February 2010, the offer to GGYC of an Australian venue for the same date remains on the table until 13 November 2009 provided GGYC agrees to withdraw all legal actions.

SNG Offers Australia

Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), the 33rd America's Cup defending yacht club, has proposed an alternative venue to the American challenger in a bid to end their continued litigation and return the Cup to the water.

Ahead of tomorrow's hearing at the New York Supreme Court, the Swiss Defender has proposed a solution to the legal impasse brought about by the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC). While the Defender's first choice for the Deed of Gift Match is Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, in order to achieve a Match in February SNG proposes to stage the 33rd America's Cup on the east coast of Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere, in compliance with the Deed of Gift. This is a venue that should be acceptable to both teams if, as expressed publicly, the true intention of BMW Oracle is to race for the America's Cup on the water.

A specific race course in the Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Australia, with weather conditions suitable for racing in February, will be announced promptly should GGYC accept this offer and cease their legal strategy. The east coast of Australia offers several locations with ideal sailing conditions for the best-of-three match. A venue in this region would be approximately two and a half weeks away by ship from BMW Oracle's base in San Diego, while Alinghi's voyage from Ras Al Khaimah would take approximately three weeks.

SNG is hopeful that this offer will be accepted and that the competition will resume on the water rather than in court.

Alinghi's Request Rejected

The Appellate Division in New York has rejected the Swiss defender's request to freeze last week's Supreme Court decision that Ras Al Khaimah (UAE) did not comply with the Deed of Gift for the 33rd America's Cup. Golden Gate Yacht Club said Ras Al Khaimah was wrong all along. The Supreme Court said it was wrong last week. And the Appellate Division said no to a Stay today. The message is clear. SNG/Alinghi will try one more time to have Ras Al Khaimah re-installed in a fast-track expedited Appellate Division application due to be heard in the coming weeks.

The race dates for the 33rd America's Cup remain unchanged, commencing February 8th, 2010. Justice Kornreich ruled from the Supreme Court bench on Wednesday October 27 that Ras Al Khaimah was not Deed-compliant. There will be a further hearing before her this Friday. The Court will determine if Valencia (Spain) is confirmed as the venue - as both sides had previously agreed to this in Court - or if SNG/Alinghi can still choose a Deed-compliant location in the Southern Hemisphere despite the expired six month notice of the venue that the Defender is required to give the Challenger.

America's Cup to Court

The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) has asked the New York Supreme Court to remove the Swiss yacht club from its position as Trustee in a Breach of Fiduciary Duty complaint filed today.
In its place, GGYC - the Challenger of Record the 33rd America's Cup - has requested the Court to appoint a faithful, fit and proper substitute to oversee the next Match to be sailed in 2010, starting 8 February.
Foremost among a catalogue of failures of SNG and listed in a Breach of Fiduciary Duty complaint are:
- Offering the America's Cup hosting rights in order to extract secret commercial deals
- Repeated attempts to seize control of the rules and officiating processes to ensure that Alinghi can not lose
- Moves to disqualify GGYC's yacht despite assurances to the New York Supreme Court that this would not happen
- Selecting Ras Al Khaimah for the 33rd Cup to further its own business interests whilst exposing GGYC to unnecessary danger

"Winning the Cup brings not just honor and pride, but responsibilities too. The honor may have gone, but the responsibilities remain," said Russell Coutts, Skipper and Chief Executive of GGYC's challenging team, BMW ORACLE Racing.

"The America's Cup is meant to be hard to win, not impossible to lose," added Coutts.

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“By filing their eighth legal action against the Defender of the America's Cup in two years, Larry Ellison and his Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) have demonstrated yet again that their true intention is to win sailing's most prestigious trophy in court instead of on the water. After failing in their attempts to circumvent the terms set in the governing Deed of Gift, Ellison is now seeking to snatch the Cup from Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) with a new round of baseless allegations,” said Fred Meyer, Société Nautique de Genève Vice-Commodore. “As two-time winner of the America's Cup and organiser of what was widely considered the most successful America's Cup event ever in Valencia, Spain, in 2007, SNG and Alinghi will continue to fight for their legitimate rights in order to promote the sport of sailing around the world. We hope that GGYC will abandon this unsportsmanlike conduct and either join the competition on the waters off Ras Al Khaimah this February or let other teams who want to participate challenge for the Cup,” he concluded.

Alinghi team skipper Brad Butterworth said: “BMW Oracle should clean up their unsportsmanlike behaviour with a dose of saltwater and sunshine and challenge for the Cup on the water. Otherwise they should stand aside and let other teams compete.” "The complaint is an affront to the America's Cup, to the UAE, to our country's relationship with an important ally, and to the judicial process. It is just a PR stunt. There is nothing in the complaint that hasn't been the subject of prior or pending legal proceedings. Basically, GGYC doesn't want to race SNG on the water after it disenfranchised 19 other clubs from competing in an elimination series and dislocated hundreds of sailors and participants in the sailing industry,” concluded lead counsel for the Société Nautique de Genève, Barry Ostrager of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

SNG Statement

SNG statement following the New York Court order of 18 September: New York Court finds Golden Gate Yacht Club's behaviour "unsportsmanlike.

Geneva, Switzerland - (2009-09-22)

In her ruling relating to a hearing on 10 August, New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich highlights “…the unsportsmanlike behavior of Golden Gate that has resulted in substantially reducing SNG's (Société Nautique de Genève) advantage as originally contemplated by the Deed of Gift.” The 33rd America's Cup Defender, Société Nautique de Genève, had filed an Order to Show Cause in front of Justice Kornreich who, despite such an unprecedented statement describing the actions of GGYC, considers such “actions are not contrary to law” and is left with no option but to deny the motion. Justice Kornreich's order also reiterates that the race shall be sailed under the rules and sailing regulations of the SNG.
SNG and its representing team Alinghi remain committed to a 33rd America's Cup fought on the water in Ras al-Khaimah in February 2010.

Date of Next Match

After the court hearing yesterday, it was decided that the America's Cup Match can take place in the Northern Hemisphere regardless of the date, which Justice Kornreich said can be agreed through mediation. In the event of no agreement being reached, Alinghi, representing the SNG, will race BMW Oracle, representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, in February 2010. In another important decision, Justice Kornreich ordered the GGYC to stick to the specifications of their Notice of Challenge and instructed the Challenger of Record to provide the Custom-House Registry as soon as possible.

Notice of Challenge from Italy

The Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), today received an official Notice of Challenge from the Circolo di Vela Gargnano (CVG) with a certificate for a 90x90foot vessel as per the Golden Gate / BMW Oracle challenge for the 33rd America's Cup.

SNG welcomes the Italian entry; CVG was a challenger in the 32nd America's Cup and is world renowned for its prestigious Centomiglia regatta. It has now challenged with a multihull as per the Golden Gate challenge.

SNG and Alinghi have always supported a multi-challenger event and continue to do so. At a meeting on 23 April, the Swiss Defender asked the American Challenger of Record to open the challenger selection series. SNG continues to encourage a 33rd America's Cup with multiple teams from different nations; however the decision to accept the Italian challenge in a multihull lies with the Golden Gate Yacht Club and BMW Oracle Racing.

Alinghi/SNG cannot accept a second challenge without the agreement of the Challenger of Record, BMW Oracle Racing/GGYC.

BMW Oracle Closed Doors

The 33rd America's Cup defending yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), regrets that the Challenger of Record, the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), rejected an invitation to resume talks on terms for the 33rd America's Cup. It also appears to have closed the door to other teams using its latest legal action to disregard Italian team Green Comm's challenge.

In a letter sent on 5 May, the SNG invited the GGYC to meet to continue discussions, including such areas as the date, the venue, the race format, the participation of other challengers and the presentation of the Custom-House Registry of vessel. To the SNG's disappointment, the GGYC responded simply by reminding the defending yacht club of the court hearing scheduled for the 14 May in New York.

The SNG plans to persevere with its appeal to GGYC to join its representatives around a table to discuss these matters face to face. The invitation to negotiate remains open.

Alinghi Starts Multihull Training

Alinghi, 33rd America's Cup Defender, has started its 2009-2010 multihull campaign in Switzerland launching the two Décision 35 catamarans that will be used as training platforms towards a multihull America's Cup in May 2010. The sailing team will be dedicated to multihull training, racing the Challenge Julius Baer on Lake Geneva for the rest of the season and withdrawing from other monohull commitments.

In addition to Ernesto Bertarelli's original SUI1, the team has chartered a second Décision 35 (SUI6) for the season and the two grand prix multihulls will race the eight events that span the summer, starting on 8 May with the Grand Prix Corum. Ed Baird will helm Alinghi SUI6 with Brad Butterworth as tactician while Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi president, will helm Alinghi SUI1. “Ernesto and his team have been strong in this class for years, we look forward to learning from and with them throughout the season,” said Baird. “We realise we have a lot to learn, and there will be a number of great crews to race against, so we're excited to have the opportunity to get back on the water in a competitive environment.”

The Alinghi multihulls will face a strong 10-boat fleet that includes some of the best offshore multihull sailors in the world, and while an Alinghi team has won the last two championships on the Lake, the group is candid in its expectations: “We are here to try to win, just as we did last year, but this season is going to be tough: the circuit has two new boats (Veltigroup and Banque Populaire) manned by highly professional multihull sailors with lots of experience, so the starts of the races will be more challenging. We will definitely be trying to keep the trophy in our hands though!” said Yves Detrey, Alinghi bow/mastman.

The first event, the Grand Prix Corum is from 8-10 May at the Société Nautique de Genève, so the Alinghi teams will start training from next Monday, “the D-35's represent a more sophisticated racing multihull than we have experienced before, and we need all the training opportunities we can get as we prepare for an America's Cup in multihulls,” Ed Baird concluded.

Statement from SNG

“BMW Oracle Racing (BOR) and its club Golden Gate (GGYC) have again chosen the New York law courts, instead of accepting an invitation to another meeting to discuss the terms of the 33rd America's Cup. They have ignored both our proposal to open the competition to other challengers and our invitation to agree to mutual consent terms.

As Defender of the America's Cup, Alinghi and the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) are duty bound to fulfill the Deed of Gift that governs the event. The document clearly states that May is the earliest possible date for a race in the Northern Hemisphere, where both clubs are located. The New York Supreme Court Order does not instruct us to breach our duties as trustee.

The Deed of Gift also states that the Challenger of Record should provide the Defender with a Custom-House Registry of the vessel ‘as soon as possible'. This they also ignore. The Deed of Gift is not a document to be cast aside at convenience: the wording is clear on the matter of the dates and cannot be dismissed because it does not suit GGYC and BMW Oracle Racing's current wishes.

The Société Nautique de Genève is prepared to defend its position, which fully respects the Deed of Gift as the governing document of the America's Cup, before the New York Supreme Court and will require BOR and the GGYC to do the same.”

GGYC Won Appeal

The Golden Gate Yacht Club has won their appeal in the New York Courts, reinstating them in place of the Club Nautico Espanol De Vela as Challenger of Record for the 33rd America's Cup. Following a long-running dispute between the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and the Defender of the America's Cup, the Societe Nautique De Geneve (SNG), swung firmly in the favour of the GGYC today, with the New York State Court of Appeals ruling unanimously in their favour.

The case centred around the validity of Club Nautico Espanol De Vela (CNEV) as a challenger under the criteria contained in the Deed of Gift, the document which governs the America's Cup. Today's court ruling reserves the previous decision of the Appelate Division and reinstates the original ruling of Justice Cahn in the Supreme Court, that the CNEV is not a valid challenger as it does not meet the criteria for having an annual regatta.

In its ruling the court noted, "for a challenging yacht club to be within the eligibility requirements, it must have held at least one qualifying annual regatta before it submits its Notice of Challenge to a Defender".

The Court concluded, "Since CNEV has failed to show that at the time it submitted its Notice of Challenge it was a 'lub fulfilling all the conditions required by' the Deed of Gift, it does not qualify as the Challenger of Record for the 33rd America's Cup competition and Supreme Court was correct in declaring GGYC to be the valid Challenger of Record. It has been posited that the right to act as trustee of the America's Cup should be decided on the water and not in a courtroom. We wholeheartedly agree. It falls now to SNG and GGYC to work together to maintain this noble sailing tradition as 'a perpetual Challenge Cup for friendly competition between foreign countries.'"

If the GGYC and SNG are unable to agree upon a set of rules to govern the competition for the 33rd America's Cup, as currently appears likely, the racing will take place under the conditions outlined in the Deed of Gift. With the Challenge certificate submitted by GGYC, this is likely to take place in two giant multihulls, over a best-of-three race series. BMW ORACLE Racing, the team of the GGYC, launched their 90ft trimaran in August last year. Alinghi, the team of the SNG and the Defenders of the America's Cup, have yet to launch their multihull, although in an interview with the International Herald Tribune back in December, team President Ernesto Bertarelli said, "We have done enough to be ready within the time that we would have in case Larry was to win in court".

Valencia Hosts AC Pre-Regattas

The 33rd America's Cup event authority, AC Management, today signed a Host Venue agreement with the Valencian Municipality and Regional Government for the Spanish city of Valencia to hold two America's Cup pre-regattas, the first from the 10-19 July and the second in October.
Should the pending litigation concerning the future of the 33rd America's Cup be resolved in favour of the multi-challenger event as proposed by the Defender, Alinghi and the Challenger of Record, Club Náutico Español de Vela, these two regattas will be part of the 33rd America's Cup, with the Match scheduled for 2010.

The Defender and the Challengers will meet off Malvarrosa Beach with the ACC Version 5.0 yachts in just three months time for a combination of fleet and match racing much like the highly successful Acts held in the lead up to the 32nd America's Cup.

Alinghi and Club Náutico Español de Vela held the sixth Competitor Meeting yesterday in Valencia with the entered teams and discussions centered on base allocation and plans for Version 5.0 yacht allocation during the two 33rd America's Cup pre-regattas, the first of which begins on 10 July in Valencia. The group of teams, having worked on the document for the past months, decided to publish the Competition Regulations for the 33rd America's Cup this week.
The next 33rd America's Cup Competitor Meeting is on 28 April.

America's Cup Competitor Meeting

At a fifth 33rd America's Cup Competitor Meeting in Valencia, Alinghi, the Defender, the Spanish Challenger of Record and 16 of the 17 challengers (China absent) discussed amendments to the Competition Regulations, which are now in the final drafting stage. They also agreed a Protocol amendment which will loosen the restriction on designers moving between teams. The group appointed two additional members of the Arbitration Panel. The 19 competitors also named David Pedrick (USA) Technical Director for the 33rd America's Cup.

The Host City agreement was also discussed, along with plans to run the pre-regattas in 2009 and the Match in 2010 in Valencia. Negotiations are moving forward with the Spanish administrations and AC Management is confident of announcing a deal with Valencia in the near future. The competitors decided that participation in the 2009 pre-regattas on ACC Version 5.0 yachts is to be compulsory for all teams and it is intended that syndicates be allocated bases once they confirm their participation in these races.

ETNZ Winner of Pacific Series

The Race Committee delayed the next start while it waited for conditions to moderate. However, three hours later with the wind gusting over 30 knots, it abandoned racing for the day and said it would shorten the best-of-seven final to a best-of-five. Racing resumed the next day.

Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, congratulated Emirates Team New Zealand on winning the inaugural Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.

Alinghi won the first match of the best of five series, but ETNZ took the next three to claim the LVPS Cup. Next for these 33rd America's Cup teams are the pre-regattas scheduled for July and October this year, followed by the Spanish Challenger of Record's annual regatta in November.

Alinghi Passes to Final Stage

Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America's Cup, competing in Auckland, New Zealand this month in the inaugural Louis Vuitton Pacific Series has raced its way into the Finals beating rivals BMW Oracle Racing 2-0 in a best of three competition. The Swiss team now passes into the final stage against Emirates Team New Zealand for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Cup which begins on Friday and wraps up on Saturday. In the LVPS Finals draw this evening, Alinghi drew NZL92 as their race yacht for the rest of the series while ETNZ will race NZL84. Emirates Team New Zealand drew the preferred starboard entry for tomorrow's first race.

3rd Victory for Greeks

It was three out of three for Greek Challenge on Monday and a fantastic end to their participation in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. The America’s Cup newcomers from Greece met the South African team for the third time, and were victorious in the sail-off for 8 challenger spot in this prestigious event.

Similar to the other two races, the prestart was aggressive but again Brady got the upper hand, crossing the line with great style in what was described as one of the most convincing starts of the regatta. The Greek stretched out a lead in the first beat, at times leaving Shosholoza 120 meters behind.

The crew carried out an excellent spinnaker hoist after the mark and soon Brady put a lid on Cian’s ambitions in the run, rounding the leeward gate comfortably ahead.

Trying to play it safe, the Greeks sailed conservatively in the 2nd beat, giving Cian the opportunity to momentarily come back. Shosholoza then tried to get the umpires in the game by forcing a possible port-starboard incident at the second weather mark but didn’t succeed. The Greek boat was on the left layline powering on towards the mark while Shosholoza was slowing down on the right one. The two boats were on collision course but Brady had more than enough space to safely round the buoy ahead of the South African team.

Greek Challenge didn’t give their opponent any breathing space in the last run, making sure they matched them gybe for gybe. A good tactical call on the last stretch allowed the Greek boat to take advantage of a puff of wind on the right side of the course and gain an additional couple of boat lengths, crossing the finish line half a minute ahead of Shosholoza.

The Greek team leaves Auckland on a very positive note. The sailing team was formed a mere month ago, trained only one week in Valencia onboard the K-Challenge boats and then another few days in Auckland, prior to the start of official racing. The goal of sailing competitively has been achieved by the Greek team and the 3 wins are the icing on the cake. The foundations have been laid for more success in the future.

LVPS Round Robin2

Racing in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series took on fresh intensity today as a newcomer team from Italy defeated hosts Emirates Team New Zealand and champion Swiss team Alinghi snatched a last minute victory from Britain's TEAMORIGIN.

The biggest upset of the day came as the newcomer, Damiani Italia Challenge, steered by Francesco Bruni convincingly put away undefeated Emirates Team New Zealand in the best tacking duel seen in this series after winning the start.

The ten international teams were racing in the first of five day's competition in the second round of the match race regatta on Auckland Harbour. After a long wait for a northerly breeze to fill in they raced in conditions that ranged from ten knots for the first of five races to 18 knots by the end of the day.

China skipper Ian Williams narrowly held off Shosholoza's Paolo Cian until the start of the second run when the South African boat had gennaker problems that saw them trawling the big chute like a giant drogue.

There were two other races. Cup champion Russell Coutts dished out a master class on starting technique in his matchup with Italy's Luna Rossa sailed by Peter Holmberg. The Americans won by 58 seconds.

There was a closer race between Gavin Brady steering the Greek Challenge and the French boat Pataugas K-Challenge with Sebastian Col at the helm. The French prevailed all around the course.

Greek Helmsman on AC Boat

After Saturday’s first ever victory, Greek Challenge wrote another page in the history of Greek sailing. For the first time ever, a Greek sailor took the helm of an America’s Cup yacht during a world-class event. Theodoros Tsoulfas, prominent offshore Greek sailor, helmed the Greek Challenge yacht in the team’s last race of Louis Vuitton Pacific Series Round Robin 1, against Team Origin from the UK.

Gavin Brady, the New Zealander that steered the yacht so far in the Series, switched positions with Tsoulfas on Tuesday and called tactics in what turned out to be a very tricky and shifty day. In addition, 11 out of the 17 crew were Greeks, marking another first. Never before in the Series, Greek sailors were the majority onboard.

The race was closer and tighter than what one would have expected, especially against an outstanding helmsman of the caliber of Ben Ainslie, 3-time gold Olympic medalist. Greek Challenge crossed the starting line on the right and Origin on the left, slightly ahead. During the first beat, the Greeks managed to stay on Origin’s trail, rounding the first weather mark a mere 14 seconds behind the British yacht. Despite being a novice, Tsoulfas was able to stay close and round the leeward gate 17 seconds behind Ben Ainslie. In the second half of the race, Greek Challenge slipped back and crossed the finish line 58 seconds behind the British yacht.

Greek Challenge finishes Round Robin 1 with 1 win and 3 losses. Due to the penalty received in the race against Alinghi, Greek Challenge has no points and will now compete in the Silver Fleet, together with China Team, Shosholoza and Pataugas K-Challenge. There will be no racing on Wednesday and the Greek team will come back on the water of Waitemata harbor on Thursday, facing Pataugas K-Challenge.

AC33 Rule Boat

The AC33 has been designed through consultation between the Defender, the Challenger of Record and the 17 other entered teams. Designers and team managers from the 19 America’s Cup syndicates met regularly in Geneva, Switzerland, and Valencia, Spain, since the design process began in early November 2008.

This group agreed to develop a boat similar in cost to the America’s Cup Class Version 5.0 boat, but with a more exciting performance. The AC33 Rule evolved to a race yacht of 26m maximum length overall, with 5m of draft and a displacement of 17.5tonnes.

The sail plan area is greater than with the ACC Version 5.0 but without overlapping headsails, and as with the AC90 Rule contemplated in 2007, the boat has a bowsprit and the spinnaker area is limited only by sheeting constraints, not by measurement of dimensions. Given the lighter displacement, the AC33 will be more demanding to sail upwind, and will provide sparkling performance on the runs. Maximum beam is 4.8m, which will seem wide to people used to the appearance of the Version 5.0 yachts, where the last generation of yachts had a beam not much more than 3m in many cases.