The End Game?

It appears we might be reaching the beginning of the end, with a press release issued by America’s Cup Management (ACM) on 13th November. The first part was pretty uncontroversial, announcing the release of the Event Regulations. These are the final part of the rules that will govern the 33rd America’s Cup, under the Protocol announced by Alinghi and the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) back in July (feels a lot longer…).

The Event Regulations cover the commercial basis of the event, and include a deadline for entry, the 15th December – the entry fees and performance bond add up to a million Euros, which should separate the men from the boys.

So far so good, it’s the final paragraphs that smack of an ultimatum…

‘All the elements required to proceed with a successful competition in 2009 are now in place, and have the support of the Challenger of Record and all the existing competitors. However, the possibility of a race for the Cup in 2009 is impaired because of the negative effects that Golden Gate Yacht Club's (GGYC) lawsuit is having on sponsors and other arrangements for the Event.

The Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) has therefore required GGYC to withdraw its lawsuit by November 16 at 1700 hours, New York time, and to clarify its position with regard to its participation in the 33rd America's Cup.’

Right…

The response from the GGYC was swift and pointed, saying that Alinghi had called off the talks that might have produced a negotiated settlement ahead of the court case. Tom Ehman was quoted as saying for GGYC…

‘This is highly surprising and disappointing. We had accepted assurances from challengers that the new design rule was fair and we were confident yesterday that other outstanding points were well on their way to being resolved in a way that was good for everyone.

‘We offered to drop our legal challenge in return for Alinghi making the agreed changes to the rules. The other challengers have been very helpful in getting us to what we thought was virtual agreement.

‘But only hours later, Ernesto Bertarelli’s lawyer, Lucien Masmejan, called to say they would not proceed with the settlement.

‘We hope they will reconsider their position, and we remain open to further discussions before a court ruling that could come any day.’

Just as entertaining is the private exchange of letters ahead of these public pronouncements, which the GGYC have kindly posted on their website. First up, SNG/Alinghi’s letter to the Golden Gate, saying much the same thing as the press release – enter and drop the lawsuit, or … umm, well, actually there was no ‘or’...

Then GGYC/Oracle’s response, which says that SNG must have known GGYC would reject this ultimatum - as they have rejected all the others - and so GGYC conclude that SNG want the court case to proceed, and have given up on racing an America’s Cup in 2009. The letter offers to continue the negotiations...

So, there you have it – what does it all mean? Justice Cahn is the man with all the cards…

Meanwhile, United Internet Team Germany (UITG) have been hiring sailors. And Team Shosholoza have announced a new designer, Alex Simonis (best known for 90 footer Nicorette, line honours winner in the 2004 Sydney-Hobart), to replace Jason Ker, who had previously decamped for UITG…

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Mark Chisnell ©

Cup Rules Announced… Maybe

Into the uncertain atmosphere over Société Nautique de Genève’s (SNG) Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup (under challenge from the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) in the New York State Supreme Court) America’s Cup Management (ACM), the body charged by SNG with running the regatta, yesterday launched the Competition Regulations.

The press conference in Barcelona introduced the event format and schedule, the dates for the Trials and the America's Cup Match, along with more on the AC90 – the new boat. We’ve already written about this, and there’s a good interview with Tom Schnackenberg, the man charged with bringing the new boat to life, at BYM News on how some of the parameters came about.

One added detail is that the crew weight limit has been removed because the new boats are so powered up – perhaps that will give all those heavier sailors disenfranchised from the current Olympic slate (which doesn’t include any keelboats) something to do…

As expected, the new rules attempt to outlaw two-boat testing, by forbidding AC90 boats from sailing alongside each other outside the events and formal ‘practise’ racing, which will be organised, apparently on-demand, by the regatta director. There are also rules excluding the sailing of ‘surrogate’ boats, in an effort to block expensive work-arounds/loopholes, and no-sail periods when the boats can’t be used at all. Returning are measures we’ve seen before like sail limitations, a 50% limit on modifications to an AC90 hull, and this time there will be no shrouding allowed at any time.

ACM are sticking with the much derided plan for the Defender to sail in the Challenger trials, and the format seems to have been designed to try and remove any influence they might have (by throwing races) over the outcome. I’ve got three words for what they’ve come up with; Cricket. World. Cup. Here’s the plan from the official press release:

Acts

End of June/ July 2008: Act 1, in Valencia (fleet & match race in ACC V5 yachts)

September 2008: Act 2, location in Europe tbc (fleet & match race in ACC V5 yachts)

April 2009: Act 3, in Valencia in AC90 (fleet race) (tbc)

Results from the Acts do not carry forward into the Trials. However, aside from the exposure and prestige gained, there are bonuses with regards to sail allocation for 2009. If teams compete in the 2008 Acts, they gain five sails on top of their 45 sail allocation for 2009. The overall winner of the 2008 Acts gains an additional two sails and the second placed competitor gains one extra sail.

Trials

Round Robins 1 and 2

Starting on May 2nd 2009, they will result in a ranking that includes all Challengers and Alinghi. The six top ranked teams proceed into the Semi Final. The remaining teams proceed into a parallel fleet racing event called the 'Challenger Sail Off', the results of which go towards the final ranking and therefore the net surplus distribution.

Semi Final

May/June 2009: Three Rounds of the Semi Final (between the top six teams of the Round Robins) will result in a Challenger ranking. Number 1 in the ranking goes straight to the Challenger Selection Final, whilst there will be a Repechage between the 2nd and 3rd placed Challengers. Alinghi moves to the parallel 'Secondary Series' at this stage.

Challenger Selection Series

The Challenger Selection Series starts in late June 2009 with the Repechage. The winner of this goes on to meet the top ranked Challenger in a best-of-seven Challenger Selection Final in July. The winner of the Challenger Selection Final becomes the Challenger and goes on to meet Alinghi in the America's Cup Match on the 18 July 2009.

Concurrent with the Challenger Selection Final, Alinghi and the newly eliminated Challengers race two Round Robins of a parallel event called the 'Secondary Series'. Results from this determine the final ranking of these Challengers.

The 33rd America's Cup Match

Starting on 18 July 2009, the best Challenger will face the Defender in a best of nine match race series.

Got all that?

If you want to read the new rules for yourself – and bear in mind that the whole lot will likely go in the bin if Oracle win the court case – you can find a PDF here. But just from a quick read, I think I can already see some very expensive ways to get race crews more time on the water and in competition, and to seriously improve the quality of one-boat testing…

As you’d expect there’s plenty of analysis of this elsewhere on the web, I can point you to CupInfo.com who have posted the graphic of the format provided by ACM. And Richard Gladwell has done a great job of outlining the main points in a Sail-World story. While the Valencia Sailing blogspot has the press conference audio and a text blog of what was said.

And finally, CupinEurope is running a story about the Italian Challenge, Eolia finding their first sponsor in La Banca Intesa-Sanpaolo - a banking group involved as a minor sponsor for Luna Rossa last time. People still want to play the game, whatever the game turns out to be...

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Mark Chisnell ©

GGYC Respond…

In the last post, I commented that the ball was now in the Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (GGYC) court, as Alinghi had provided what they asked for, in the shape of the new Cup boat rule. That meant that GGYC were now in a position to decide whether or not Alinghi had got a headstart in the design process - one of their principal issues with the 33rd Protocol.

The ball promptly came thudding back across the net, as GGYC announced... thanks for the new rule – but how can we possibly decide if Alinghi have got a headstart in the design process if we don’t know what the boat looked like in Alinghi’s original proposal to the Challengers? GGYC now want to see Alinghi's first draft of the rule, to judge how far the final boat has evolved from what they started out with…

At the time of writing that ball was quietly thudding it’s way over the baseline at Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) and Alinghi, and heading down towards the grubby little corner of the fence where all the leaves, chip papers and McBurger wrappings gather (think municipal rather than yacht club tennis court), with no sign of a response...

So the pendulum swings back towards Justice Cahn and the New York State Supreme Court having the last word. Or maybe not, if Manuel Chirivella, President of the Challenger of Record, Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV), has anything to do with it. He announced at the weekend that they would be appealing if they lost the ruling in the court.

And if you follow that last link, you’ll find the always entertaining Kimball Livingston waiting for you with some other thoughts on a rather gob-smacking press conference given at the Barcelona Boat Show, in which CNEV also appeared to indicate that they thought Spanish law, rather than American, applied to the case - and that CNEV was simply a legal agreement to allow Desafio Espanol to become the Challenger or Record… I'm sure GGYC's lawyers will be interested in that.

So the date has just passed when the teams currently occupying a Valencia base have to indicate whether or not they want to stay on. The first feathers have already been ruffled. Cup in Europe has a story which indicates that the second Spanish syndicate has bought all the Luna Rossa assets and is now after the base as well - allowing them just to move in. Unfortunately, TeamOrigin have already baggsied first dibs on that one…

Meanwhile, the world’s design offices have been rushing to the nearest blog to give us their take on the new rule for the AC90 boat. Apart from the obvious fact that the new boats are bigger and a lot more powerful, the crucial difference between the old and the new is that the AC90 is a box rule – there is a fixed upper limit for all the main parameters; sail area, length, beam, displacement and so on. So teams won’t be trying to figure out how to balance these components into the right configuration for the venue/wind range they expect to sail in. Instead, the hull shape, within the confines of the box, is going to be where the design effort is focused. And then once they’ve figure that out, all the details of structure, layout, rig will come into play...

Bruce Farr and Britton Ward at Desafio Espanol gave the rule their blessing – but then as Challenger of Record, you’d hardly expect them to do an ‘IRM’ on it… The Valencia Sailing blogspot has got Schickler-Tagliapietra to take a look at the new rule. While Sail-World have had a chat with Brett Bakewell-White, who provides some comparisons with some of the supermaxis around. But we'll give the last word to Alinghi’s head design honcho, Rolf Vrolijk, who’s done a Q&A on the Alinghi website.

And just in case you hadn’t noticed, this blog is now feedburned - just click on the little orange logo (at the bottom of the menu choices in the left hand column) to get auto-updates whenever I drag my sorry arse back to the keyboard…

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Mark Chisnell ©

The New Boat...

America’s Cup Management (ACM) delivered on time yesterday with the issue of the rule for the new America’s Cup class, as required under their Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup. The process, as we’ve reported previously, has been lead by Tom Schnackenberg, with input from the six challengers currently entered – and Alinghi.

The new boat is 90ft overall maximum length, 6.5m in draft when it’s racing, with a displacement of 23 tons and designed to a box rule. It was the displacement that the challengers were apparently allowed to set, to negate any prior knowledge of the rule that Alinghi might have had – and hopefully any headstart on the design process.

ACM issued a press release about all this, but more interestingly they also issued the rule itself. I don’t think anyone was expecting that, as ACM had previously made a big deal of withholding knowledge of the rule from anyone that hadn’t entered the 33rd America’s Cup, and therefore accepted all the other (disputed) conditions of the Protocol. But now the rule is out there, and the ball is definitely in the Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (GGYC) court.

GGYC, who, along with Oracle have led the attack in the New York State Supreme court on the 33rd Protocol, had previously issued a press release on the 25th October stating that, ‘The American team (Oracle) has told challengers it is ready to agree to wide ranging new proposals discussed over the last 24 hours if it can confirm for itself that the design rule developed by Alinghi is fair for all competitors.’

Well, now the rule is out there, we’ll all be expecting to hear from the GGYC next…

Meanwhile, the Spanish bloggers have been getting much exercised over the issue that’s pivotal to the court case – the credibility of the Challenger of Record, Club Nautico Español de Vela (CNEV). The Valencia Sailing blogspot has a nice story on efforts to join the aforementioned club - revealing that you can’t. While Scuttlebutt have translated a blog by Jaime Soler, who writes in Spanish, about the Notice of Race for the CNEV’s third attempt to hold an ‘annual regatta on an arm of the sea’ – one of the conditions for any challenging yacht club. It's not pretty...

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Mark Chisnell ©

No Decision

Anyone still holding their breath can stop now… there was no decision in the New York State Supreme Court of Justice Cahn on the case that Oracle and the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), have brought case against Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) and Alinghi. The hope is that a decision will be handed down in days or weeks rather than months, and you can read Cory Friedman’s excellent coverage for the online Scuttlebutt magazine right here.

Bob Fisher was in attendance for Sail-World, and his report is here, with John Rousmaniere also describing events for Scuttlebutt. While both GGYC and SNG delivered short press releases, expressing their satisfaction with events to date – one of them is misguided in that belief…

GGYC have also posted the original July letter from seven previous Cup challengers, protesting the Protocol. It makes interesting reading. And the mighty Valencia Sailing blogspot has come up with TVNZ's report on the court case, which includes footage from the court room of all the players - so if you want to put faces to names, that's the link to click on. The same site also has an interview with Hamish Ross, Alinghi's General Counsel.

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Mark Chisnell ©

D-Day

Today's the day when the New York State Suprememe Court will hear Oracle and the Golden Gate Yacht Club's (GGYC) case against Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) and Alinghi. Ahead of the hearing in the court of Justice Cahn, there’s been plenty of tit-for-tat filing and press release issuing – the ever reliable Cory Friendman summarises the latest court papers for Scuttlebutt.

The latest press release from the GGYC is in the normal place (click on the title 'GGYC Press Release October 20, 2007' and it opens a Word file). While you can read the latest from SNG on their website.

There is, apparently, a meeting this morning in New York ahead of the court appearance, but having read all that, all I can say is thank god for courts and judges...

Meantime, in case you missed it, Paul Cayard has signed with Desafío Español, the current Challenger of Record, as their Sports Director. Cayard joined the team for a few months ahead of the last Cup, and that role is now to be reprised for an entire Cup cycle. There was a press conference on the appointment in Valencia, which was reported in the Valencia Sailing blogspot.

And finally, another Italian syndicate has broken cover, Eolia has submitted 'pre-registration' to America's Cup Management (ACM) ahead of getting enough funding to actually enter. The team intends to be as Italian as possible, with that language spoken on board the race boat, and they’d like to get hold of a Luna Rossa boat for training. According to BYM News the 50 million Euro budget will come from a Milan company, a bank and a number of businessmen in the north, along with 10 million Euros from Sicily - and Francisco De Angelis has been connected with the team.

So, now you can all go and hold your breath until end of play in the New York courts…

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Mark Chisnell ©

Catching up...

Apologies for absence, but the sailing in St Tropez took its toll, and then there was a big pile of work to catch up on when I got back, and well… a Happy Monday’s gig to go to… And I'm off to the Frankfurt Book Fair at the weekend, so this blitz through a couple of weeks worth of news isn't really going to do it justice. Still, there's some great writing if you follow the links...

So, back at the ranch house, there’s been plenty going on in the Cup world, as both the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and Sociétè Nautique de Genévè (SNG) file their papers with the New York courts ahead of the hearings on the 22nd October.

If you want to read all the original documents, then GGYC have been posting court papers on their website, while SNG have put up some of the early stuff on Alinghi's website. The Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia (RYCCS), the challenging club of Mascalzone Latino, have also weighed into the legal action with what’s apparently called an amicus curiae brief to the New York Court – you can read a summary of their filing here. But the definitive independent coverage of this stuff is Cory Freidman’s work for Scuttlebutt – you can read his assessment of the paperwork issued to date right here – but if I were to cut to the chase, I’d say that SNG are in trouble.

Cory Friedman also met Ernesto Bertarelli as part of a PR sweep through the States by the head of Alinghi. Friedman had some interesting things to say about the meeting - which can probably be summed up by saying that Bertarelli still doesn’t get it (and if you want to know what he doesn't get, then you can read this story by Richard Gladwell at Sail-World). When the PR sweep reached the West Coast of the US, Kimball Livingston was one of the men ushered into Ernesto’s presence, and he’s written in his usual lively manner about the occasion - in two parts. Elsewhere in the same PR push, Marian Martin of BYM News got to talk to Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth - and this is the best interview Brad's given on the whole thing.

Meanwhile, I can personally confirm that the swirl of dockside rumour was alive and kicking in St Tropez, reflected online at the Valencia Sailing blogspot, the latest of which is right here. So have Ellison and Bertarelli cut a deal? They know, and we don’t. But if I was to put money on it (and why-oh-why did I not have a few quid on England and France at the weekend?), I’d say not…

Given the closeness of the court date, the most surprising event of the past couple of weeks was the announcement from ACM on the 3rd October that they were reconsidering the feasibility of holding the Cup in Valencia in 2009, ‘as a consequence of the uncertainty and the delays arising from the Golden Gate Yacht Club Law suit in New York’.

But why make this announcement less than three weeks before the court date that will finally provide some certainty? It was bound to spook the herd - particularly the five teams that have already challenged and their prospective sponsors. And coming at such an odd time, you have to wonder about ACM’s motives in making the announcement. In an AP story, Paul Logothetis quoted ACM chief executive Michel Hodara as saying that the lawsuit was the problem. ‘Nothing has changed. We are just saying that now we find ourselves in a situation where time is the problem. We have reached a stage and we have to face the reality of the situation.’ So, just a reality check, or something else?

A couple of the teams responded to this, Grant Dalton was quoted in the New Zealand Herald as saying that they will continue to prepare for a 2009 event. While Jochen Schümann, in charge of Team Germany commented, ‘The situation of a possible postponement for the planned 33rd America’s Cup in 2009 would harm the sport and its image worldwide. We are supporting all attempts of an amicable arrangement.’

Indeed. There was a 12 Metre World Championship held in Lulea, Sweden, in 1988 for what was then still the America's Cup Class, with ten teams lining the dock. By the summer of 1992 in San Diego - when the dust had settled on the catamaran challenge, the court case and the new boat rule - one each of the Swedish and Japanese teams, along with the British, Danish and German challengers had all fallen by the wayside. Lessons from history 101 - there's every reason to believe the court won't sit on its hands in judgement this time, as it did in that last debacle, but the risks are still there...

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Mark Chisnell ©

Injuries, Illness and Drugs…

A quick round up today, as I’ve got to catch a plane to the Nioulargue (or whatever they call it these days) which, as winter started in England this week, doesn’t seem a bad thing at all…

The bad news is the America’s Cup’s first doping case – the Alinghi website posted a statement from trimmer Simon Daubney yesterday, explaining that he’d tested positive on both the A and the B samples for a recreational drug.

In a subsequent appearance before the Jury for the 32nd America’s Cup, Daubney’s explanation that he was a ‘victim of contamination and or drink spiking’ (which contention was backed up by a polygraph test) was accepted. The jury concluded that there was no fault or negligence on Daubney’s part. Despite that, Daubney has resigned from the team until he’s taken further steps to clear his name - still, not exactly Ben Johnson….

Elsewhere, Yahoo have a bit of a short non-story on the K-Challenge preparations for the next Cup – Stephane Kandler hopes to have a major sponsor by the end of next month, but it doesn’t sound like it’s Areva, as they are quoted as not having been asked to back the French challenge.

And the New Zealand Herald have reported that Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) tactician Terry Hutchinson won’t be back with the Kiwis for the next Cup. Hutchinson is moving on after a successful stint with ETNZ saying, 'Following the conclusion of the 32nd event, I could not come to terms with the team on how we should go forward. I have the utmost respect for them, but an America’s Cup campaign is a very intense commitment, and I did not feel I could continue under the circumstances'.

Since I contributed at least one cold and a strained Achilles, I can’t go without pointing you in the direction of Vernon Neville’s report on sickness and health amongst America’s Cup crews. Neville was Luna Rossa’s fitness coach, and if I remember rightly, this was his PhD work at Loughborough University. So I guess it’s now Dr Neville to you, my son. Personally, I think the new appellation should be withheld until he’s finally learned the offside rule - this is an English university PhD after all…

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Mark Chisnell ©

One Small Step for Alinghi…

Might be a giant step for America’s Cup racing – or it might not.... Alinghi appeared to blink first in their stand-off with Oracle Racing over the Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup, when on Friday they announced that they were making some changes to the disputed Protocol, after discussions with the Arbitration Panel and those competitors that have already entered.

The Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) and Alinghi’s announcement came with an appeal to BMW Oracle Racing and the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) to lay down their weapons – the court case due to be heard on the 22nd October – and enter the event under the new Protocol. They reckon that the changes address many of the issues raised by GGYC, and Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth referred to recent discussions with Russell Coutts, Oracle’s skipper.

The changes to the Protocol are:

The power to disqualify a competitor has been clarified so that should a competitor refuse to be bound by the Protocol, they now have recourse to the Arbitration Panel before they can be thrown out.

America’s Cup Management (ACM) can now only refuse entry to the event on specific grounds – such as capacity at the venue.

There are changes to the power of ACM to amend the Protocol in relation to the Arbitration Panel, and these changes must now be subjected to Arbitration Panel approval first. ACM no longer have the power to remove members of the Arbitration Panel.

The ‘neutral management’ has been changed so that the Fair Sailing rule is extended to apply to all matters directly related to the regatta.

If you want to decide for yourself if this will keep BMW Oracle from the court, they list their issues with the 33rd Protocol in their media backgrounder here...

Or you can cut to the chase and go straight to an article on the Guardian website, where Tom Ehman (Head of External Affairs for BMW Oracle Racing) is quoted as saying that ‘We welcome some new points, but the changes are largely cosmetic and do not address the central issues.’ Ehman added that GGYC will not be withdrawing the court case on the basis of these amendments, and they want to negotiate a settlement directly with SNG.

So it looks like we will rumble on towards the day in court for now - whether or not this first step closer to a negotiated settlement will be followed up with more remains to be seen. Presumably GGYC are now in a better position to judge the strength of the SNG case, as they had to file their papers with the court last week. Alinghi appear to have posted these documents on their website here. As I believe I've mentioned before, if I wanted to read this stuff myself, I'd have taken law classes...

Meanwhile, United Internet Team Germany, one of those teams who have entered under the current Protocol, have got their man - Jochen Schuemann has left Alinghi to lead the German challenge. Schuemann had been sailing director at Alinghi for the last two Cups. But his absence from the race boat in the 32rd Match against Team New Zealand hinted at a coming departure. There's an interview with Schuemann on BYM.

Schuemann is joined by Jason Ker, the Brit who was chief designer at Team Shosholoza, the South African entry in the last event. Porsche and Audi have put their money down as sponsors, and the team has bought one of the Alinghi boats - SUI-91. There’s a report on the press conference on the Valencia Sailing blogspot.

And earlier last week, ACM doled out the 66.5 million euro profit from the previous America’s Cup. ACM take a ten percent cut as a management fee (this is after all the costs have been deducted from the gross of 240 million euros), then 45% goes to Alinghi, and the rest is shared between the challengers. ACM state that Emirates Team New Zealand will receive over nine million euros as the Challenger, while those teams that didn’t make the semi-finals will be making do with just over a million each - not quite enough to hire a top flight skipper then...?

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Mark Chisnell ©

Team Origin Announces...

In the rather incongruous surroundings of a sand pit in the back blocks of the Southampton Boat Show, Team Origin, the British Challenge for the 33rd America’s Cup, announced it’s line-up this morning.

The headline appointments won’t come as any huge surprise to readers of the Cup tea leaves, with Ben Ainslie skipper and Juan Kouyoumdjian as principal designer. But if you dig a bit deeper (and you can do it yourself here - but I warn you that this is a 3M PDF file) there are some interesting appointments.

On the sailing side, Ben has been joined at the back of the boat by Iain Percy – these two have been raising flags on their intentions to win the America’s Cup together for some years now. Percy brings his Star crew, Andrew Simpson, with him, as aft grinder and strategist. Joining from Team Director Mike Sanderson’s winning Volvo Ocean Race boat, ABN Amro, is Rob Greenhalgh, as strategist and traveler – the up-the-mast role going almost exclusively to skiff sailors these days it seems. While Ben has brought navigator Ian Moore with him from Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ), where they sailed the ‘B’ boat together.

But the most notable defection from ETNZ is Andy Claughton, who joins as Design Coordinator, a role he filled in 2007 for ETNZ. He’s had some kind of involvement with the Kiwi Cup teams dating right back to 1987, and he will leave at big hole over at Grant Dalton’s camp.

Also on the technical side, Mickey Ickert has come from BMW Oracle, where he’s spent the last three Cups, and will be Aero Director – the lead sail designer. And to complete the rig package, spar designer Bruce Thompson also joins from Oracle along with trimmer, Robby Naismith – keeping it in the family. And with Neal McDonald on the mainsheet (who knows a bit about mast design himself) this is a really strong aero development team. Another notable on the technical side is Stan Honey, who was Mike Sanderson’s navigator on ABN Amro. Honey joins as Technical Director and navigator.

Up the front of the boat we have Chris Brittle, David Carr, Pawel Bielecki and Ian Weighell turning handles, with Julien Cressant and George Skuodas on the mast, and Kevin Batten, Justin Slattery and Matt Cornwell on the bow, with Nick Bice as Boat Captain.

And last but not least, the single most important part of the Cup game is having the money, and so perhaps the most important addition to the Origin team announced this morning was Charles Dunstone as partner and investor. Dunstone, of the Carphone Warehouse, has been a Cup enthusiast for some time, and it’s great to see him finally committing to the support of a British effort.

And there you have it – it’s a great line-up. There are some gaps - only one trimmer for the sails in front of the mast being an obvious one (and my apologies to Andrea Avaldi - formerly Luna Rossa's senior structural designer - who will take on that role for TeamOrigin. In a previous version of this post I'd said that there was a gap here too - but the eagle eyed have pointed out his presence in the on-line PDF profiles. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the printed version given out at the launch which I used to write this initially. I guess he was signed up a little late to make the print run). And with more signatures promised, these guys are up and running in a big way.

But there's a postscript - I mentioned in a previous blog that I didn't see too many people in the America's Cup giving children a chance to experience sailing - the only real way to build an audience for the event. The Royal Yachting Association has been trying to do this for some time, with its OnBoard programme, which is hoping to introduce half a million young people to sailing over a ten year period. TeamOrigin is the main partner to this programme. This is not just how you build an audience for the professional sport, it's also how you find the next generation of talent, by giving as many people as possible the opportunity to discover they love sailing and are good at it...

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Mark Chisnell ©

Memo-by-Affidavit

This is turning into something of a manual news aggregation service, as I really don’t have much to add about the whole memo-by-affidavit battle currently being waged in the New York courts, as the Golden Gate Yacht Club/Oracle (GGYC), go up against Société Nautique de Genève/Alinghi (SNG) in their dispute over the Protocol for the 33rd America's Cup.

So I'll get straight to the point - and push you in the direction of Scuttlebutt where New York lawyer, Cory E. Friedman is following the proceedings in Justice Cahn’s court for that internet magazine.

First up, check out the second half of Cory’s analysis of the pre-start moves - the affidavit’s and memorandum filed by SNG ahead of yesterday’s court hearing. Then you can read Cory’s report on the hearing itself.

The bones of it is that both sides will file papers and the judgement will be based on those papers – there will only be a trial if Justice Cahn subsequently decides he needs one and that, apparently, is unlikely.

The schedule is that SNG will file on 17th September, GGYC on 1st October, with the responses being due between 5th and 19th October and a hearing on the 22nd October - when we may get a judgement and if not, if should emerge pretty soon afterwards.

So, this looks more like a two mile windward-leeward than a round the world race at this stage, let’s hope it stays that way. On this schedule, there’s a good chance the court case will be decided before the new rule for the ninety footers has even been announced – unless someone appeals…

You can read Alinghi’s take on it here…

And the GGYC’s view of yesterday’s action is right here…

Meanwhile, as we mentioned in Saturday’s post the America's Cup Management (ACM) Arbitration Panel have filed their full decision. There was a suggestion in the conclusions to the ruling, published on Saturday, that SNG/ACM might consider changing some points of the disputed Protocol. It turns out that these all relate to the Arbitration Panel’s own operation and SNG’s right to dismiss the Panel’s members and change its mechanics of operation - nothing here that is going to make GGYC much happier, and the New York Court will remain the focus of the argument. But if you've got the time, there's a lot of background stuff in that judgement that will likely also be coming before Justice Cahn, and it may help you make your own mind up - should you want to...

Elsewhere, the Valencia Sailing blogspot has an excellent account of a Desafio Espanol press conference (whose Club Nautico Español de Vela (CNEV) lawyers were in New York the same afternoon), in which they announced that Farr Yacht Design will be working for Desafio this time around.

If you’ve been paying attention, you should now be wondering – who’s going to be working with Russell Coutts at Oracle? Juan K was there with Farr last time, but he’s been linked to just about everybody, particularly the Brits. They are supposed to be presenting their design and sailing team at the Southampton Boat Show this Friday, so I guess we may all learn a little more about how the cards are falling out then.

It's not yacht racing as we know it, but it's not dull either, is it?

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Mark Chisnell ©

Arbitration Panel Rules

Those of you who have been following the affair of the 33rd Protocol carefully, will remember that America's Cup Management (ACM) had referred the validity of Club Nautico Español de Vela (CNEV) (the Challenger of Record disputed by the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC)) - to the Arbitration Panel set up by ACM to adjudicate over the 33rd America's Cup.

Whatever you thought about that, and GGYC didn't think much, the Arbitration Panel has just come to a decision. This is the ACM press release on the matter, which you can read here.

'This afternoon, the Arbitration Panel reached a decision on the ACAP 33/01 case, in the matter of the Protocol governing the 33rd America’s Cup and in the matter of an application filed by SNG on July 20, 2007 in respect of the validity of the challenge of Club Nautico Español de Vela (“CNEV”) for the 33rd America’s Cup. In compliance with directions from the Arbitration Panel, the full document will be made available from this website Monday September 10, but it the meantime this is the summary of the decision:

“[162] The decision of the Panel is the following:

The Panel (i) has the competence to rule on its own jurisdiction and (ii) also has jurisdiction to rule on the present matter;

The challenge for the 33rd America’s Cup made by CNEV on July 3, 2007 (i) is a valid challenge entitling CNEV to challenge for the America’s Cup as Challenger of Record and (ii) SNG is obligated to accept (as it was the first valid challenge it received);

The Protocol signed by SNG and CNEV on July 3, 2007 complies with the Deed of Gift; and

Although this does not affect the compliance of the existing Protocol with the Deed of Gift, the Panel believes that SNG and CNEV should consider amending the Protocol in respect of some of its provisions as stated in point points [155] and [156]."'

It will be interesting to see what changes the Panel have proposed in points 155 and 156. I guess we get to see that on Monday - will it be enough to keep GGYC happy? That's also the day when the action opens in Justice Cahn's court...

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Mark Chisnell ©

Explainer: The Small Print

I couldn't let this one go by for anyone that doesn't subscribe to that fine internet magazine, Scuttlebutt. The people there have got Cory E. Friedman, a New York lawyer, to do what I've been avoiding (partly because I know nothing about it, and partly because if I wanted to spend my life reading affidavits and legalese I wouldn't have ended up here doing this...), that is - read the Golden Gate Yacht Club's (GGYC) legal papers and assess the coming court case.

So here's Cory's assessment of the opening salvoes in the court battle from the GGYC - hopefully there will be more along soon, when the Societe Nautique de Geneve step into the ring - because I sure ain't gonna do it for you...

And some good news from America's Cup Management (ACM), who have announced that Tom Schnackenberg will be a consultant to the rule development process for the 90 footers proposed in Alinghi's 33rd Protocol. Schnackenberg's role will be as class rule and competition regulations consultant for the design consultation period, which starts on the 15th September and runs through six weeks of discussion with the current challengers, until the rule is published on the 31st October.

Grant Simmer, design team coordinator for Alinghi, had this to say, 'Tom's responsibility will be to consult and consider the input of the entered challengers and to publish the new class rule by 31st October. Tom will also work on other racing regulations related to the 33rd America's Cup.'

But while Schnackenberg's recent work has been with the challengers (Luna Rossa in 2007), his future allegiance is not in doubt - Simmer added, 'Once he has completed these tasks we look forward to welcoming Tom in the Alinghi design team.'

I doubt anyone will regard this appointment as anything other than good news - Schnackenberg's critical role in winning the America's Cup three times (Australia II in '83, New Zealand in '95 and 2000) and his technical brilliance are unquestioned. Hopefully he'll also bring the authority to the group to ensure that the many different views and ideas that will be expressed in these discussions evolve into a great boat - you know what they say about camels and committees....

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Mark Chisnell ©

Coming at You...

A flurry of news from the Cup in the last few days, so we’ll start at the beginning with a link to a nice story by the people at BYM News, who have gone to the trouble of reading Tom Ehman’s affidavit (as presented to the New York State Supreme Court by the Golden Gate Yacht Club’s (GGYC) legal team, in their challenge to Société Nautique de Genève (SNG)). In which Tom has an interesting story about an SNG ploy to hand the Cup off to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, should they become unstuck in the New York Court.

BYM followed up this affidavit analysis with another cracker of a story, in which John Crawford, Commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, denied all knowledge of the plan...

And for those of you who like nothing better than curling up in bed at night with a good legal document to read, I can offer you the decision from the 1988 court case. In which Mercury Bay Yacht Club went up against San Diego YC in a similar dust up over the nature of the next event. The court gives some interesting opinions that will presumably be taken into account in deciding the case now before it.

Then there was the fall-out on the story from the previous post, in which Ernesto Bertarelli had apparently asked that the chairman of the jury at the recent Farr 40 Worlds, Tom Ehman (the very same as mentioned above) should step down. But the jury, the class, and ISAF all decided otherwise, and Ehman stayed. As reported by Stuart Alexander amongst others, Ernesto followed that up by not turning up for the prize giving, after being beaten into second place by Vincenzo Onorato and his Mascalzone Latino team. Onorato is one of the refuseniks that have spoken out against Alinghi’s Protocol for the 33rd Cup.

Meanwhile, Team Origin, the British Challenger for the America’s Cup, have been throwing their weight behind Alinghi’s wheel with a statement on their website arguing for the Protocol. Of the three points they present in favour of the Protocol only one of them is actually in that document, the others were presented at a subsequent press conference and currently have no official standing - but leaving that hair splitting aside, the Brits clearly have a strategy in backing Alinghi, and I’m sure it will become apparent, sooner or later…

And then there’s ACM, who yesterday (presumably, as I can’t find any evidence of it) presented papers to the New York State Supreme Court in defence of their position. And for good measure gave a progress report on preparations for the 33rd Cup. Their account of it is on their website, while BYM News have a story on the views of Hamish Ross (who’s Alinghi’s legal counsel) on the court case. There isn't too much here that we haven't heard before, but it is good to see ACM coming out and defending their position, rather than just ranting at Ellison.

And on that theme, AFP report that Brad Butterworth offered Oracle and the Golden Gate Yacht Club an entry into the Cup (under the current Protocol). Butterworth is quoted as saying, ‘If Golden Gate entered now, and got on with the game of the America's Cup, they'd be accepted. We want them to be in the next America's Cup.’ And it does look as though the warring parties might be talking to each other...

ACM also announced that United Internet Team Germany have become the fifth official challenge to enter under the protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup.

And finally… the Valencia Sailing Blogspot reports that the contract for Valencia to host the 33rd America's Cup has been signed, although there appears to be some issue amongst the three Spanish signatories as to who’s actually running the show.

Make that... almost finally... as in that same Valencia Sailing story, there’s a report on the Vuelta de España a Vela which is apparently CNEV's latest 'annual regatta on an arm of the sea'. So far, Mr Pierre Orphanidis doesn’t sound very convinced…

So now you’re as up to date as I am - but are you any the wiser as to how this is all going to turn out? I’m certainly not.

And that's about all you're going to get in the way of insight and analysis on all this, but hey, I've got a novel to finish....

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Mark Chisnell ©

Turning the Gas Up...

If anyone thought that the presence in Copenhagen, Denmark (at the Farr 40 Worlds) of major players from both sides of the Alinghi v Oracle divide meant an opportunity for negotiation and conciliation, they will have to think again. This piece from Stuart Alexander's fine blogspot...

'By the way, there has already been an angry confrontation in the not so wonderful city of Copenhagen. It has been cold and miserable for the Farr 40 worlds, but some heat was injected from outside when Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi asked that the chairman of the jury, Tom Ehman, should step down. As Ehman is at the centre of the litigation by GGYC, at the behest of BMW Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Alinghi, as a competitor, felt there could be some conflict of interest.

Ehman did not step down, doubtless because he thought that his four co-jurors would never allow themselves to be manipulated in what could be seen as vindictive behavour. But Bertarelli’s skipper, Brad Butterworth, is incensed and has written to the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with a formal complaint.'

Time for another weary sigh?

I should also point you in the direction of a Q&A with America’s Cup Management's (ACM) Chief Operating Officer, Michel Hodara in the Scuttlebutt for 31st August.

'Q: By the defender participating in the challenger trials (per the Protocol of the 33rd event), is it not possible that the defender may influence the ultimate outcome of the challenger trials? Given that the threat of elimination does not exist for the defender, it would seem conceivable that the defender may choose to lose to a lesser team, which might help this team advance past a stronger challenger that could ultimately pose a problem for the defender in the America's Cup. At the very least, the participation of the defender does open the door for this type of concern.'

'MH: In order to reduce costs, it has been decided to impose to sail only one boat at a time. Therefore, it was reasonable that the Defender could take part in the Challenger series, otherwise, the Defender would have no opportunity to race an opponent while the challengers raced in the Challenger Series.'

Which is as fine a job of not answering the question as I've heard from any politician in recent years. If I'd paid more attention in my freshman Logic 101 classes (was it my fault they were scheduled at siesta time?) I could probably give you the technical name for this kind of flawed argument. But suffice to point out that perhaps the conclusion should be that the problem is with the one boat rule - since it's clearly not reasonable that the Defender can have an impact on the outcome of the Challenger trials, as Michel Hodara's answer seems to accept.

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Mark Chisnell ©

Getting Down to Business...

The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) have posted on their website some of the documents that they've brought before Justice Herman Cahn and the New York State Supreme Court, in support of their case against Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) and ACM/Alinghi.

One of them is an affidavit by Tom Ehman - Tom Ehman is Head of External Affairs for Oracle, but was probably better known on this interweb-thingy as the BOB blogger.

The other document is a Memorandum of Law, in support of GGYC's motion for preliminary injunction and expedited trial and discovery - whatever that means. These appear to be the documents that GGYC presented to the court on the 22nd August, which were mentioned in the previous couple of blogs.

I'm starting to feel that this is a good time to tag out of the America's Cup blogging business and leave it to the lawyers. There're fifty odd pages in these two documents, and I've quite possibly got better things to do than read it all. Maybe it's time to go sailing and wait till the court has settled this one. But if GGYC's request to have the hearing in October is granted (and I think we'll know that on September 10th or soon after), it may not be that long to wait...

Elsewhere, there are continued rumours about a second Spanish challenge, organized by Pedro Perello, director of the Transpac 52 Siemens. The Valencia Life Network has posted a story saying that King Juan Carlos has backed the second challenge, which will apparently take over the Luna Rossa base, have Paul Cayard picking the crew, and Juan Kouyoumdjian designing – while Juan K said in an interview with the Valencia Sailing blogspot that he’d been approached by five different teams…

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Mark Chisnell ©

Taking it Seriously...

After Friday's post I got another Kiwi tip-off about an interesting interview with Michel Hodara, the CEO of America's Cup Management (ACM), on BYM News. And he says ACM are taking the GGYC court challenge seriously. This is what Hodara had to say about the court action:

'Yes, Golden Gate omitted a very important date from the Media Backgrounder that was issued a few days ago and has created a wrong impression of what happened on August 22nd. The date it failed to mention, under the heading "2007 Timeline" was August 17.

'Although the GGYC filed suit in the Supreme Court for the State of New York, on July 20, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) was not served with the papers until August 17. The response to those papers was scheduled to be answered by mid-September and SNG was working on responding by then. However, just 5 days later, GGYC went into court and asked for the time scale to be accelerated. They want it accelerated for the original suit and they also want to know from SNG the racing rules and the location for the multihull challenge they claim for.

'All that happened in court, on August 22, was that the court set a date for hearing whether there is reason to accelerate things. SNG has to reply by September 5 and the hearing will be on September 10. This was not a victory for GGYC, as the impression has been given. Nothing was decided, the court has not taken any position whatsoever, it has just set a date for a hearing and nobody knows what will happen on the date. The court may agree to the request to accelerate, or it may not.'

So, that sets me straight about whether or not ACM are up for this...

I'd urge you to read the whole interview as this is a more thoughtful and temperate response to the current circumstances than the statement ACM put out in response to the court order - which is a pity. In my very first blog on the new Protocol for the 33rd Cup I was willing to give ACM the benefit of the doubt over what appeared to be a very one-sided document. Since then, public opinion seems to have largely hardened against ACM, and backed the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC)/Oracle challenge to the Protocol. Not least because ACM have refused to recognise that people have legitimate concerns with the document, or even explain their reasons for the controversial clauses - perhaps Mr Hodara should be given the stage more often. Now, if he could just come up with a conciliatory tone and a willingness to negotiate, we might be getting somewhere.

Just one point about the rest of the interview - Hodara talks about the verticality of football as being an aspiration for the America's Cup. Meaning that there are people interested in football from all stratas of society. But football's verticality exists because every single one of the six billion or so punters on this planet has the opportunity to kick a football/tennis ball/tin can around a pitch/street/beach and knows what it means and what it takes to good, bad or indifferent at it.

The same cannot be said of sailing - and that truth will not be changed by bringing mainstream sponsors into the America's Cup, it will be changed by giving kids everywhere and in all walks of life a chance to experience sailing. And I don't see too many people in the Cup doing much about fixing that...

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Mark Chisnell ©

Wake Up Call

So there were a couple of developments in the America’s Cup this week, neither of which had much to do with yacht racing. The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) announced that the Supreme Court of the State of New York had granted them an order, ‘requiring the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) to promptly answer a request to speed up the legal process for resolving its proposed new rules for defending the next America’s Cup.’

You can read the full text of the statement from the GGYC here, but as far as I can see, this is a wake up call for Alinghi. The court is telling them to take the GGYC challenge seriously, and that they have to turn up in New York and explain themselves.

The response from SNG/Alinghi came hot on the heels of the court order, with a statement they issued to the media. I’ll have to give you this one in full, as I can’t find it on any ACM/Alinghi site to link to…

'ACM STATEMENT

Response to official filing of Legal Proceedings by Golden Gate Yacht Club 23 August 2007

The Société Nautique de Genève, Alinghi and America’s Cup Management are very disappointed that BMW Oracle Racing, through the Golden Gate Yacht Club, has followed through with its threat and officially filed legal proceedings in the New York Courts.

“ACM in good faith has proposed a protocol intended to advance the sport of America’s Cup sailing. Far from being an attempt to control everything, the new protocol has been written to make the 33rd America’s Cup even better: a new class of boat which brings the technology to state-of-the-art, exciting racing and an even higher profile and more professional event which befits the premier competition in sailing, “ said Michel Bonnefous, President ACM.

“Our vision is to make the America’s Cup in 2009 comparable with the best sporting events in the World. This vision is shared by many Challengers from around the world, four of whom have now formally entered the competition, with others about to do so.

“Larry Ellison is holding the Cup to ransom for competitive gain by attempting to disrupt the preparations of the teams from Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, Great Britain and New Zealand, as well as many others who have notified of their intention to enter the competition shortly.”

“Ellison lost on the water in 2003 and in 2007, failing to secure a match for the America’s Cup,” said Brad Butterworth, Skipper, Alinghi, “He is now pretending to be the good guy, representing the interests of all stakeholders, whereas in reality they have gone to court to force an earlier private match on their terms without the involvement of other competitors.”

“While their legal teams are busy destabilising the 33rd Cup and the preparations of the existing challengers, they are simultaneously snapping up sailors left, right and centre. These underhand tactics make it particularly hard for the smaller teams who rely on sponsorship, which is very hard to secure under these circumstances, and shows disregard for all the legitimate competitors.'

The cat-o-meter seems to be swinging inexorably towards a race in twin-hulled ninety footers next year. I was a bit surprised to see Brad continuing to be so forthright, given that his long-time compadre Russell Coutts is on the other side of the fence at GGYC/Oracle. Perhaps this prior relationship could have opened a channel of communication and hence to negotiation. But then again, Bertarelli doesn't have much of a record for listening to his sailing lieutenants when it comes to the big issues (as Russell discovered just prior to his departure from the team) and Brad figures he's already chosen his horse...

A couple of other points. The nice man at the Valencia Sailing blog has figured out how to follow the court case blow by blow. Head to the New York State Unified Court System website at this address:

https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivil/FCASSearch?param=I

(I haven’t created a link for you, as it tells you on page one of the website not to do so without specific permission from the court. I figured that this permission could take a while to get, and if there’s one authority I’m not about to mess with, it’s the New York State court system.)

Once you get there, you have to fill in the question at the bottom of the page, and that will take you to a search facility where you can enter the GGYC’s case index number: 602446/2007. If you do so, you’ll discover that the next hearing is on the 10th September at 2pm, and that SNG have not yet listed any legal representation - which does kind of indicate that they've been ignoring the whole thing and hoping it will go away.... It won't.

In the meantime, several other potential Challengers continue to press ahead. Team Origin will be presenting their team to the public at the Southampton Boat Show at 11pm on Friday 14th September. And I can’t help thinking that John Kostecki’s resignation from the Volvo Ocean Race’s Ericsson Team has something to do with an alternative offer of employment from an America’s Cup team.

On the one hand, it doesn’t do the Volvo any good to be losing marque names like Kostecki from the event. But on the other, with Kostecki returning with another early starting campaign, after blitzing the fleet in illbruck in 2001-02, it did feel like he’d already won it. His absence opens things out a little, although Ericsson still have a formidable advantage in resource and time.

Richard Gladwell at sail-world.com reckons that the challengers can press on regardless, as the outcome of the court action is completely neutral to them – because both Alinghi and Oracle intend to hold a Cup in 2009 in Valencia, and in 90 footers. But I thought Oracle had backed the Mascalzone proposals which state that the next Cup should use the V5 rule (from 2007), while planning a new boat for the following event. The type of boat is pretty fundamental to a Cup team's preparations, and it would seem that this would limit the amount of work anyone can do.

Richard also assumes that all the court action can be completed with a clear outcome and no outstanding appeals in time for a 2009 event. But GGYC reckon we could have a legal resolution as early as October this year, which would be before the 90 footer rule has even been released by Alinghi. And so, for a while at least, most challenging teams can be pushing ahead with planning and signing personnel, in the hope that by the time they really need to start doing something, things will be clearer.

Meanwhile, whatever happens, ACM/Alinghi are covering themselves - there’s a clause in the Notice of Entry on the event website that states:

“The [ Club ] and the [ Representative – syndicate ] each understand that AC Management and SNG cannot be responsible for any losses incurred by [ Club ] and/or [ Representative – syndicate ] as a result from GGYC's actions.”

And finally, I couldn’t not mention the awesome performance from Skandia Team GBR at the Pre-Olympic event in Qingdao. The breeze finally turned up for both the medal race days (so it is possible to get wind in Qingdao) and the Brits waltzed off with five golds (Bryony Shaw, RS:X; Ben Ainslie, Finn; Stevie Morrison/Ben Rhodes, 49er; Paul Goodison, Laser; Sarah Ayton/Sarah Webb/Pippa Wilson, Yngling) and a silver (Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, 470). It would be staggering to see it repeated next year, but you never know…

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Mark Chisnell ©

Zzzzzz

Nothing much doing on the America’s Cup front this week. I guess it’s August and holiday time, but even in the Southern winter the New Zealand Herald hasn’t managed to come up with a story since the 7th August. There is a big article about Team Origin in the Times Online, but as it doesn’t even mention the current issues over the Protocol, I think we can safely ignore it. So has everyone just gone on holiday, or have Oracle and Alinghi traded their public dispute for backstage negotiating in smoke-free (these days) rooms? Let’s hope it’s the latter.

One piece of news was a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Jochen Schuemann had left Alinghi and was now shopping for a new team. It remains to be seen whether United Internet Team Germany (UITG) will achieve their ambition of hiring him. UITG skipper, Karol Jablonski has told German Yacht magazine that they’ve made Schuemann an offer. But perhaps Schuemann will try to put together his own German challenge? Just like buses, nothing for ages and then two come along at once…

Elsewhere, it turned out that the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) did the right thing in postponing the start of the Fastnet Race. It got pretty ugly out there and of the three hundred entries, 271 made the delayed start but only 51 finished. It was a record breaking year for Mike Slade’s new ICAP Leopard, the thirty metre canting keel maxi completed the course in an elapsed time of 44 hours and 18 minutes, which beat Ross Field’s former record by 8 hours 50 minutes.

By all accounts, ICAP Leopard had a bit on, they lost a genoa out of the foil off Portland Bill, and then halfway to the Rock they hit a shark, which got itself stuck on the rudder and was only freed by a man going overboard. So much for those Sun tabloid stories about killer sharks off the coast of Cornwall, should have been the other way around...

George David’s 90-foot Rambler, a non-canting keel maxi skippered by Ken Read, was only 45 minutes behind Leopard. It was a great effort by Read and company, they are using the boat as a training ride for the Volvo Ocean Race entry, Puma. But they had to settle for second overall, about two and a half hours behind Fastnet winner, Ger O'Rourke's Cookson 50, Chieftain.

The Fastnet was also doubling as official prologue to the non-stop double-handed Barcelona World Race – and the IMOCA 60s were led home by race favourites Vincent Riou (Vendee Globe winner in 2004) and Seb Josse (ABN AMRO2 skipper). The pair set a new 60 record, beating the time set by Catherine Chabaud on Whirlpool in 1999 by just over three hours. Alex Thompson and Andrew Cape on Hugo Boss, and Jeremie Beyou and Signey Gavignet on Delta Dore, were also inside the old record.

There were plenty of retirements amongst the 60s as well, including Guillermo Altadill and Jonathan McKee. They bailed out just over three hours after the start, with keel electronics problems aboard Estrella Damm. They returned to Cowes, fixed it and have since departed for Barcelona to do the qualifying miles for the main event.

And finally, the other big regatta going on at the moment is the Pre-Olympic event in Qingdao. I tried to pull up the latest results, but the website is rubbish. Last time it successfully loaded, the Brits were gold in four classes; Bryony Shaw in the RS:X, Paul Goodison in the Laser, Sarahs Ayton and Webb and Pippa Wilson in the Yngling – and, of course, Ben Ainslie with a ten point lead in the Finn. Wouldn’t that just wind you up something chronic? You’ve just spent the last year busting your balls in the boat, only for Ben to step back in after 12 months America’s Cupping and sail to a brace of bullets and seconds?

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Back at the Desk…

So nil points for my efforts at multi-tasking, I can sail or blog, but apparently not both…

There have been a couple of America’s Cup headlines in the past ten days, most notably the graceful retirement of Prada boss Patrizio Bertelli and his Luna Rossa team from the field of battle. After three Cup campaigns - which included winning the Louis Vuitton in 2000, making the semi-final in 2003 and the final in 2007 - Bertelli has decided he’s had enough. He stated simply that, ‘Participation in the next America's Cup was carefully analyzed, and while significant human and financial resources are already available, it was decided that, after three campaigns, a cycle had come to an end.’

Not particularly surprising, given the uncertainty levels surrounding the Cup – rather like world stock markets. Up or down? You pays your money and you makes your choice…

The times they are a changing - with Louis Vuitton and Prada gone, dominant brands from the last decade or two of the Cup, the next event is going to be different, however it plays out. The Swedish Victory Challenge seems equally underwhelmed by the current stand-off. They have sided with Vincenzo Onorato’s proposals (mentioned in the last blog - Russell Coutts subsequently commented that Oracle would withdraw their court action if Onorato's suggestions were followed). While Victory's Bert Willborg said, ‘We applaud Vincenzo Onorato’s initiative. Not only do we applaud his initiative, but we whole heartedly endorse what he has said in his statement.’

So in the blue corner, we have Victory and Mascalzone lined up loosely with Oracle in an effort to change the Alinghi Protocol. And in the red corner we have Desafio Espanol, Team Shosholoza, Team Origin and Team New Zealand lined up with Alinghi, having entered under the aforementioned, disputed Protocol. Leaning towards the red corner are United Internet Team Germany, who reconfirmed their intention to be there in 2009 - or whenever it might be – although they don’t appear to have gone so far as actually entering. They are also making noises about trying to hire Alinghi’s Olympic gold-medalist Jochen Schuemann. But there wasn’t any word on the fate of the Version 5 yacht that they’ve started to build…

Downer…

ACM/Alinghi have already crushed any notion of taking Vincenzo Onorato’s proposals seriously, ‘We have no intention of going back (on decisions that have been taken),’ Michel Hodara (the chief operating officer of ACM) told AFP.

Upper…

I can find one slim sign of hope… the much-trailed injunction that the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and Oracle were supposed to be filing with the New York State Supreme Court (to prevent Alinghi from continuing to organize the 33rd America’s Cup while the GGYC court challenge was undecided) appears to be on hold. Is this a sign that there is finally some negotiating going on in the background?

Keeping Up…

If you’re struggling to keep up with the moves to date, those nice Scuttlebutt people have posted a PDF that you can download with a schedule of events so far, and an analysis of the way the legal moves might play out. It seems like a pretty solid review to me – the central point being that if it goes to court, it will come down to whether or not the Challenger of Record, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela (CNEV), is a yacht club under the Deed of Gift. There're also some thoughts on how the teams might react strategically (along with some dodgy history and semantics), from another anonymous contributor to an earlier blog. Come on dudes, I stick my name on it...

And Finally…

Then there was the Valencia Sailing blog sponsored rumour that Dean Barker was talking to Russell Coutts, Oracle’s CEO, about a job on the wheel with the US team. Given Barker and Coutts long association, stretching back through their time at TNZ, it’s not hard to see that Russell might talk to Dean about it. But the Kiwis stomped on the idea quicker than a fox going for the throat in a chicken coop. Although, since Jimmy Spithill was out of a job as of a week ago (when Luna Rossa pulled the plug), I guess we don’t have to look too far to see where Oracle might go for helming talent if they can’t get Barker…

Fastnet Race

The Fastnet started a day late this morning, and as I type this, it’s still forecast to be blowing dogs off chains in the Irish Sea come Tuesday/Wednesday. It seemed like a sound call to me, keeping the bulk of the fleet and the smaller boats the safe side of Land’s End until the forecast has a chance to harden into reality, or not…

As for the Open 60s, racing in the official Prologue for the Barcelona World Race, they’ve got a bit on. But according to the race tracker on the official website, Jonathan McKee and Guillermo Altadill in Estrella Damm had turned back just after clearing the Solent. I guess the reason why will become apparent in due course, but added to the dismasting of Pindar during Cowes Week’s Round the Island race, it doesn’t bode well for this new generation of 60s…

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Mark Chisnell ©