Fisher's View - America's Cup - The Court Rules

by Bob Fisher on 23 Oct 2007 Judge Herman Cahn of the New York State Supreme Court heard verbal evidence from both sides in the America’s Cup dispute and adjourned the court for a few days before making his decision, at the same time urging both to continue the process of negotiation on which they have already embarked.

It was a process that many had expected despite the fact that the judge had already received large quantities of written evidence in support of both parties – the Golden Gate YC for Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle Racing and the Societe Nautique de Geneve for Ernesto Bertarelli’s Team Alinghi. The judge, sitting in the dark oak panelled room no. 232 in the Supreme Court in downtown Manhattan, patiently heard the counsels’ evidence, interrupting them if they strayed from the subject, then cut quickly to the chase in his cross examination.

He had heard the process of accepting a challenge from a newly-fledged and compliant Spanish yacht club as being: 'selling the America’s Cup to a convenience entity.' The analogy to the corner-store was duly noted. It was explained to him that there was a difference between the Spanish yachting federation (the dubious challenger last time) and this new yacht club.

The judge, clearly a no-nonsense person, fired a question at the SNG Counsel, David Hille of White & Case, on whether or not this new club had held an annual regatta (as required by the Deed of Gift of 1887). The answer came that CNEV (Clube Nautico Espanol de Vela) proposed to hold on in November. Cahn said nothing but his querulous look gave some indication as to his thoughts.

When Hille offered evidence that there had been other clubs that had challenge prior to holding their first annual regatta, citing the Secret Cove YC of Canada in 1983, his argument was cut short. Perhaps the judge had been apprised that the New York Yacht Club accepted the Secret Cove YC’s challenge only after it had held a regatta.

Shortly afterwards, the judge adjourned the case 'for a few days,' to give his decision, after first advising both parties to continue the negotiating procedure in which they had been engaged for some weeks. Whether sufficient agreement can be reached before Judge Cahn delivers is somewhat dubious.

PS: Grant Dalton and Jim Farmer were both present in court.