Azzurra

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) is to launch a new challenge which will bring the Italian flag to international waters under the name Azzurra. YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo announced the participation of team Azzurra in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta, scheduled to be held in Nice from 7th to 22nd November 2009, to an audience of national and international press at the Genoa Boat Show this afternoon. The new Azzurra team will be led by YCCS member Giovanni Maspero of Joe Fly, under the responsibility of skipper and helmsman Francesco Bruni, supported by tactician Tommaso Chieffi and team manager Alessandra Sensini among others.

“The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda is delighted to be embarking on this new adventure together with Giovanni Maspero,” said Commodore Bonadeo. “The YCCS firmly believes in the values which drive this young Italian team: first and foremost a passion for sailing combined with a constant search for improvement and a desire to seek out new challenges.

“The YCCS brought Azzurra to the America’s Cup in Newport in 1983, where we were total newcomers and certainly not among the favourites, but we competed well and our passion captured the collective imagination of the Italian public. I believe that Italian sailing now needs a team like this one, made up of young, enthusiastic and highly dedicated sailors.”

Giovanni Maspero has won several European titles in the Farr 40 and Melges 24 one-design classes as well as finished second in the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship in 2008 and in the Audi Melges 32 World Championship in September of this year. Francesco Bruni and Tommaso Chieffi are accomplished America’s Cup sailors having amassed a total of six campaigns between them, while the rest of the crew has a range of match race and one-design sailing experience.
“Our common objectives and the faith placed in our team by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Commodore Bonadeo is extremely rewarding for our entire sporting group,” declared Giovanni Maspero. “We feel an enormous responsibility, but I am firmly convinced that our sailing team’s merit, coupled with the experience of the YCCS staff, which will join us in this exciting adventure, will provide excellent conditions to compete at the highest level.”

At the first event in Nice, racing will take place on equalized version 5 ACC boats supplied by the organization, and Azzurra will be competing against BMW Oracle Racing (USA), Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), K-Challenge (FRA), Swedish Challenge Artemis (SWE), Synergy Russian Sailing Team (RUS), Team Origin (GBR) and Team French Spirit (FRA). The team will also evaluate participating in future World Sailing Team Association events co-organised by Louis Vuitton in 2010. All events will be similar to the successful Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, held in Auckland in February of this year, which generated over 360 hours of television content and reached over 500 million viewers worldwide.

The YCCS is renowned for organizing international sailing events such as the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the Sardinia Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup and this year completed one of its busiest seasons. The Club hosted twelve regattas in 2009 including two ISAF world championships, the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship, the Audi Melges 32 World Championship and three events for superyachts – the Dubois Cup, the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta and the Perini Navi Cup -- in addition to the 20th edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. In the past, the Club has also promoted international challenges such as Azzurra, the first Italian Challenger for the America’s Cup (1983) and the motor yacht Destriero, which to this day holds the transatlantic crossing record set in 1992. The Club’s members currently number more than 500 and bring the YCCS colours to the most important sailing events across the globe.

The participation in the Louis Vuitton Trophy is the first step in a programme which intends to return the YCCS and the brand Azzurra to the forefront of international yachting as a protagonist in global sailing events in addition to its established role as an organiser of world class regattas.

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.

Team Greek Challenge

In the opening race today (Friday) France's Pataugas K-Challenge will race aboard USA 98 against China Team in USA 87. The second race will see Britain's TEAMORIGIN in NZL 92 starting against Italy's Luna Rossa 84. The third race will be Emirates Team New Zealand in USA 98 versus Damiani Italia Challenge sailing USA 87. The last race of the day is the newcomer Greek Challenge in NZL 84, up against Switzerland's powerful Alinghi.

Greek Challenge presented on Friday morning its crew line up for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. Without losing its Greek identity, the team crew has a strong Kiwi flavor, with a total of 8 New Zealanders out of the 21 sailors that will be racing off Auckland's harbor for the next 2 weeks. Twelve Greeks will be defending their home colors and the 21-man roster in Auckland is completed with 1 South African.

Gavin Brady, 5-times America's Cup helmsman, will drive the boat in the team's maiden participation in a world-level regatta, against the world's top America's Cup teams. In fact, the first ever Greek team for the America's Cup will have to face none other than Alinghi, current defender and 2-time winner, in its first race.

The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series is the first step in a long-term effort to develop young sailors from Greece and create a stable platform that will lead to a competitive America's Cup team.

Greek Challenge Crew List

Bowman: Kevin Batten, NZL
Mid Bowman: Michail Pateniotis, GRE, Pavlos Kagialis, GRE (Reserve)
Mastman: Dimitrios Benakis, GRE
Pitman: Jeremy Scantlebury, NZL
Pit Assistant: Anestis Karayiannidis, GRE
Port Grinder: Angelos Boubouras, GRE
Starboard Grinder: Konstantinos Chaniotis, GRE
Upwind Trimmer: Carsten Schon, NZL
Downwind Trimmer: Athanasios Pachoumas, GRE, Zachary Hurst, NZL (Reserve)
Mid Grinder: Stu Clarke, NZL
Mainsail Trimmer: Rodney Keenan, NZL
Traveller: Dan Slater, NZL, Panagiotis Mantis, GRE (Reserve)
Helmsman: Gavin Brady, NZL
Floater: Antonis Bougiouris, GRE
Navigator: Marc Lagesse, RSA
Aft Grinder / Skipper: Sotiris Buseas, GRE
Runner: Alexandros Tagaropoulos, GRE, Theodoros Tsoulfas, GRE (Reserve)

Greek Challenge made history today by engaging for the first time with another LVPS team in the waters of Auckland's Waitamata Harbour and winning. They finished Thursday's practice session more upbeat than any other team, because they obtained an advantage over BMW Oracle during their light air practice session this morning. Was it a fluke, or will they be able to repeat the performance in their first matchup in the Round Robin series against Alinghi on Friday afternoon.

Little is known about Greek Challenge CEO, Sotiris Buseas' herculean effort to build the nascent syndicate... The Greeks turned to ISAF #1-ranked match race skipper, Sebastien Col and his World Match Racing Team colleagues for on the water coaching in the Pataugas K-Challenge boat. Nervous at first, Col was impressed with the Greek team. All are very good sailors in their own disciplines, but aside from Marc Lagesse, they had never sailed an America's Cup class boat before. To everyone's surprise, the total immersion ACC training sessions worked well and Patugas K-Challenge's boat was no worse for the wear when the rest of the K-Challenge team arrived in Valencia for pre-LVPS training.

America's Cup in 2010

AC Management today announced the entry list for the 33rd America's Cup that includes 19 teams, eight of which are new entries. All of the 32nd America's Cup challengers have re-entered, but one.

Aside from the Defender, Alinghi and the Challenger of Record, Desafío Español, a total of 21 teams presented a Notice of Entry and 17 were accepted. Three of the entered teams are pending minor details towards their official registration and have been granted an extension until January 15. Three other teams were denied entry as no further documentation beyond the Notice of Entry was received by the December 15 entry deadline. Carbon Challenge has withdrawn.

The teams have been working together over the past few months at regular Competitor Meetings to amend the 33rd America's Cup Protocol and to design the new class rule; this process is ongoing and will continue into the New Year with further meetings planned and a publication date for the class rule scheduled for the end of January.

The 33rd America's Cup schedule is for two pre-regattas in Valencia in 2009, the first in July and the second in October, plus the Club Náutico Español de Vela annual regatta in November, followed by an America's Cup Match in 2010.

33rd America's Cup teams (in order of entry):
Alinghi, Société Nautique de Genève (SUI) – Defender
Desafío Español, Club Náutico Español de Vela (ESP) – Challenger of Record
Shosholoza, Royal Cape Yacht Club (RSA)
TeamOrigin, Royal Thames Yacht Club (GBR)
Team New Zealand, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (NZL)
DCYC, Deutscher Challenger Yacht Club (GER)
Green Comm Challenge, Circolo di Vela Gargano (ITA)
Ayre Challenge, Real Club Náutico de Dénia (ESP)
Victory Challenge, Gamla Stans Yacht Skallskap (SWE)
Argo Challenge, Club Nautico Gaeta (ITA)
Mascalzone Latino, Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia (ITA)
Team French Spirit, Yacht Club de St Tropez (FRA)
Luna Rossa, Yacht Club Punta Ala (ITA)
Russia Team - Fiona, Yacht Club Seven Feet (RUS)
Joe Fly, Società Canottieri Lecco (ITA)
K-Challenge, Cercle de la Voile de Paris (FRA)
Greek Challenge, N.O.K. Poseidon - Nautical Club of Kalamata (GRC)
Dabliu Sail Project (ITA)
China Team, Qingdao International Yacht Club (CHN)

33rd America's Cup

A large majority of the teams entered in the 33rd America’s Cup today achieved another milestone in the process of getting the event back on the water during a second Competitor Meeting at the Société Nautique de Genève in Switzerland.

Ten 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.

Amongst other topics, it was agreed that:

• 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


• Two pre-regattas will be organised in 2009 before the 33rd America’s Cup in 2010

All participants expressed their satisfaction with the process and their confidence in ongoing plans progressing towards a 33rd America’s Cup. They also urged BMW Oracle Racing once again to drop their lawsuit and enter this process.

The next Competitor Meeting is scheduled for December.

Another Yet Opinion

Now that there is only one last chance left for an appeal, last week's decision by a New York court to re-instate CNEV as Challenger of Record puts the whole future of the America's Cup at risk. For if their decision stands, our sport's premier match will come to an end as a genuine sailing competition. What we will have instead will be a regatta that just pretends to be the Cup.

Predictably, we have heard panicky cries for a multi-challenger event at all costs. It is almost as if the rules don't matter. But what sort of event will it be when a sham COR has already connived at ensuring the defender can't lose?

In case you've forgotten, let's recall the protocol Alinghi now brazenly promotes as its "vision."

Alinghi claims the right to choose, at its sole discretion, the regatta judges, the committee, the umpires and the measurers, even going so far as to state that they must be its employees. Alinghi, again at its sole discretion, claims the right to accept a challenge or to penalize a rival and to change the rules at any time. Little wonder this protocol was immediately opposed by seven syndicates.

Faced with a stacked deck, top-level syndicates will stay away. You can argue it is still better to join and hope for change. But that's how a lamb thinks before it gets into bed with a wolf. We might as well rename it the Alinghi Cup now.

The three judges may have swallowed the bait that any multi-challenger event is better than a Deed of Gift match. But if so why even have rules? For a defender can now collude with anyone to fix the game. Incredibly, this ruling says the America's Cup Challenger of Record doesn't even need to own a boat!

Sure, we will still have an event called the America's Cup. But top sailors will know it's a sham. And it won't take sponsors and fans long to catch on either. Already we have seen Louis Vuitton, who have been a key part of the Cup's whole identity, go. What looks like a race will in fact be a procession. Ernesto Bertarelli's vision turns out to be a cynical marketing ploy that gives his commercial subsidiary, ACM, total control.

Oracle have courageously tried to stop an Alinghi take-over. There is only one round left in the court process. We have to hope Oracle will win. Because if they don't the modern Cup will have just come to a shameful end.

Vincenzo Onorato
Mascalzone Latino