America's Cup - Late rule change plugs 'Love-tap' redress gap

by Richard Gladwell on 26 May 2017 A late rule change has been implemented in the 35th America's Cup to addressing situations similar to the serious collision on the second day of last Practice Session between Emirates Team New Zealand and Land Rover BAR, which saw the Kiwi boat taken out of racing for a four day period, after a so-called 'Love-tap'.

The rules have also been extended to cover other possible situations which would allow points and race schedule adjustment options.

At the time of the 'Love-tap' incident, at the start of Race 12 of Practice Session 5, the rules were not specific on how Emirates Team NZ's points would have been affected or how long would be allowed for repairs.

The new rules also address the inequitable situation where the British team, despite having been the culprit in the incident actually suffered less damage, and could have resumed racing the next day, while the innocent Kiwis copped a four-day time-out for repairs.

Many saw that as being completely inequitable and believed there should be some suspension on the British boat in that case.

Two rules have been changed.

The first is to Racing Rule 62.2 used in the America's Cup Regatta, which sets out the situations which can be addressed by the new rules.

Essentially a yacht now has to have her score or place in a series made significantly worse as a result of damage caused by a yacht breaking the basic rules of sailing or illegal or accidental action by a third party (including a race official) that causes injury to the crew or serious physical damage during a race.

In simple terms it means that the two situations covered are damage from a collision between two AC50's while racing, or if one of the AC50's are hit by an errant spectator or official boat and damage results.

The rider still applies that the yacht claiming the damage cannot have any fault in the incident - which includes not taking avoiding action when it is clear that a collision will occur.

So in the situation involving Land Rover BAR shunting Emirates Team NZ at the start of Race 12, Peter Burling as helmsman of the right of way boat has to show that there was nothing he could have done which would have avoided a collision or reduced damage. A right of way boat can't ensure there is contact just to prove a point.

Several Redress options available
Once the Jury decide that there is damage in the circumstances prescribed by the rules, then they move onto the next set of Rule changes and look at what Redress should be awarded, in this case to the New Zealand AC50.

First, there is the usual rider that the Jury must look at Redress for all yachts affected, not just the ones that claim it - this covers the situation where there are unintended consequences when Redress is granted.

The options are first to alter the score of the innocent party - and award the race points to the innocent party. In reality the on the water umpires could take this decision out of the Jury's hands - if in the case of Land Rover BAR they thought the incident was sufficiently serious for Land Rover BAR to be 'Black flagged' - meaning she is disqualified from the race and the win is awarded to Emirates Team NZ.

A second option kicks in giving the Jury the power to delay racing on the same day for the damaged boat - in other words, they can allow a stand-down period and in the Race 12 incident would excuse Emirates Team NZ from further racing in the day and defer the rest of her races for that day to the following.

That addresses the situation where Emirates Team NZ would have to return to her base, have the boat checked and any minor damage fixed overnight. If Land Rover BAR had suffered little or no damage, then she could continue to sail her scheduled races for the rest of that day.

A day out for serious damage
The third option now open to the Jury applies in a more serious situation when, as with the Emirates Team NZ case the damage is substantial - and more than can be quickly fixed overnight.

In this case, the Jury can delay the racing for the seriously damaged AC50 for a further day (being a calendar day not necessarily a scheduled race day). In other words, there is a 24-hour timeout allowed.

After a day has passed, the damaged AC50 must resume racing, and if she does not then, she will sacrifice her points for the second and subsequent days lost.

Had the rule applied in the Emirates Team NZ and Land Rover BAR situation, and a four-day repair was necessary, and LRBAR was able to temporarily repair her damage on the water, then the British boat would have lost the points for the race in which she caused the collision. The British could continue with the rest of her scheduled races for the day and score points for any she won.

Emirates Team New Zealand would pick up the point from the race in which she was seriously damaged. The Jury could meet and decide that they would defer her races for the next day - and those races would be re-scheduled for later in the series.

But if the New Zealanders repairs extended past the next day, then they would lose points for every race that they didn't start - and the boats that the Kiwis were scheduled to race would have to sail out the course and finish to receive the race points.

The other sting in the new rule is that while the Jury can extend a series, they cannot delay the start of the next series or phase of the America's Cup regatta. In that case, the racing in that phase is terminated, and the points scored stand without further adjustment.

Curiously the third option doesn't apply to Oracle Team USA if they have a second AC50 and can substitute that boat. In which case they would be required to race the next scheduled race day.

In reality it is expected that the Measurement Committee led by Ken McAlpine would inspect the damage and make a report to the Jury as to their view of its seriousness, rather than leave that highly technical decision to the Jury which adjudicates on racing rules issues and is drawn from the ranks of the on the water Umpires.

The latest set of Racing Rules can be viewed by clicking here and looking in particular at Rules 62.2 and 64.2