Sailing Anarchy YC enters 33rd America's Cup

by Alan Block on 17 Dec 2008 The Sailing Anarchy Yacht Club (SAYC) today confirmed its entry in the 33rd America's Cup to be contested in the waters off Valencia, Spain in 2010 or 2011. Known as Anarchy Challenge, SAYC's racing syndicate will draw upon the immense resources of the world's most popular sailing website, SailingAnarchy.com, the brain child of San Diego-based sailor Scot Tempesta.

Although international in flavor, Anarchy Challenge will compete under the Stars & Stripes, and will be the only US participant in a field of up to 21 challengers which also entered the event before the December 15th entry deadline. As of Wednesday morning, Tempesta said that SAYC was still anxiously awaiting confirmation of its formal entry from the Société Nautique de Genève, the current America's Cup Defender.

'We are proud to represent the United States and our loyal members in this iconic sporting contest,' said Mr. Tempesta, who is also the Commodore of SAYC. 'Had our members not stepped up to the plate with their support and interest, it would have been the first time in the event's 157-year history that there was no US participation in the America's Cup. We could not stand by and let that happen.'

Under the stewardship of team CEO and SAYC Vice Commodore Alan Block, Anarchy Challenge has been working hard to assemble its media relations, campaign management, and sponsorship development team. 'There is no doubt that this is the first America's Cup Challenge to represent an on-line community, for we don't just represent the SAYC members, but the 30,000 person-strong membership and the one million monthly readers of the Sailing Anarchy site as well,' Block explained. 'Our members are mobilizing for this exciting challenge, and we're already starting to leverage this massively talented pool of talented engineers, designers, and sailors as we begin to assemble the administrative and competitive parts of our team.'

There is no clear consensus in the yachting community on whether the 33rd America's Cup contemplated by the 21 challengers will actually happen, as the prestigious event remains embroiled in a bitter custody dispute in the New York courts between Swiss Biotech magnate Ernesto Bertarelli and Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Tempesta remains positive on the future of the event: 'When these billionaires are done bickering, we'll still be here, our
members itching for some Cup racing' he said. 'It's not easy to field a team for the America's Cup, but the Anarchists are nothing if not resourceful.'

The oldest trophy in sport, the America's Cup has long been a challenge between rich industrialists, and has been filled with intrigue and conflict almost since its inception. Anarchy Challenge looks to broaden the appeal of the event in the United States, where interest in yacht racing remains nearly nonexistent despite many achievements by US sailors in the America's Cup, the pinnacle of yachting competition. 'For a century and a half, the Cup has been a shiny bauble to be battled over by the super wealthy - on the water, in the court, and in the press - yet no one in the general public pays any attention except in salty little enclaves like Newport and Annapolis' said Block. 'We think it's time the common man had access to the America's Cup - and if there's one thing that Sailing Anarchy represents, it's the common man.'

The team will be funded through a combination of donations, private and commercial investment, with Anarchy Challenge bringing a huge advantage to potential sponsors of Cup teams - a fan base that includes the millions of current readers of Sailing Anarchy. Anarchy Challenge's commercial team will commence discussions and negotiations with potential investors and sponsors during the coming months.

'The one thing we caution is not to dismiss us,' said Tempesta, when asked of the seriousness of Anarchy Challenge. 'We may not be well-funded, and we're somewhat disorganized, but we're a hell of a lot more likely to be on the starting line than some of the teams that have entered. And we'll be here long after most of them are forgotten.'

Sail-World comment:

Under the current legal rulings applying on the America's Cup, the Sailing Anarchy would appear to be valid.

There is no requirement for the club to have held an annual regatta before challenging, since a futuristic meaning of the word 'having' is acceptable under the latest legal decision from the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court.

The Deed of Gift requires 'any organized yacht club' 'having for its annual regatta on ocean water course on the sea, or an arm of the sea'.

Provided SAYC is in some way legally registered with an authority, then it would seem to be legal.

In USA there is no requirement for a club to be affiliated with a national authority, in this case US Sailing, since membership/affiliation is voluntary. Any club affiliated or not is entitled to organise yacht racing in the USA.

The current Challenger of Record, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela had not held a regatta at the time of its challenge on 7 July 2007, and in fact consisted of just five members, considerably less than SAYC, which if it signed its full readership would be easily the largest yacht club in the world.

Based in San Diego, SAYC would also comply with the venue requirements for an annual regatta.

It is not known whether the $50,000 entry fee has been lodged, or whether this will be done once the entry is accepted as valid by the Defender Societe Nautique de Geneve.

The move by SAYC could also be the way of the future, as several clubs in the past have been used as 'challenger fronts' by teams wanting to enter the America's Cup but not wanting to deal with risk averse yacht club committees - previously believed to be a prerequisite to lodging a challenge.

Richard Gladwell
NZ/US Editor