America's Cup- The Italian quandary

by Bob Fisher on 11 Jul 2013
Luna Rossa, the Italian challenger from the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, did not race against Emirates Team New Zealand on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Cup on the express orders of the team’s principal, Patrizio Bertelli.

This, he explained, was no sudden reaction but a carefully calculated matter. 'We wished to press our point,' Signor Bertelli explained, 'we had filed a protest and we did not wish to affect the thinking of the International Jury.'

He went on that the action of the Luna Rossa team had been carefully considered at all levels and was not a sharp reaction to the Race Director’s edict on the Safety Recommendations, it was that the team wanted to hear the Jury’s decision before going ahead on the water. 'We want to be sure that we are 101% right,' said the team’s principal.

'We want to sail,' he said, 'and we want to sail full course races because we believe that is the best practice for the team. Training is essential and racing over the course is the best possible training we can have.' He was echoing the thoughts of Team Coach, Steve Erickson and Skipper, Max Sirena, who both agreed with the decision not to race on Sunday.

The delay, which has seemed interminable, to decide who is right and who has the rights, has been delayed until 1100 PST Thursday.