Rumblings in Challengers' camp?

by Challengers Commission and Sail-World on 6 Feb 2007 The Challengers Commission has published the following media statement, following the recent Challengers Meeting. The main points of contention seem to be in the provision of the South bases which affect Emirates Team New Zealand, and the television coverage of the event.

Points of interest are in the banning of use of extras during the pre-start (so we won't see a repeat of the Team NZ popping of a Code Zero during their match with Prada in 2000) and the continued use of umpire to competitor communication which will be more than just advisory for the Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup.

The full statement is as follows:

The Challenger Commission for the 32nd America's Cup ('CC') met at the call of the Chair, Alessandra Pandarese (ITA) of Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team at the Holiday Inn Valencia on Tuesday, 30 January from 0900 to 1800. Working parties met on Monday, 29 January in preparation for the main CC meeting on the 29th, and in follow up on Wednesday the 31st.

On Tuesday representatives of all eleven Challengers were present:

+ AREVA Challenge (FRA) -- George Clyde, Katie Pettibone and Dawn Riley
+ BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) -- Tom Ehman and Gillian Williams
+ China Team (CHN) -- Jean-Charles Scale and Xavier de Lesquen
+ Desafío Español (ESP) -- John Cutler and Tanis Rey-Balter
+ Emirates Team NZ (NZL) -- Ross Blackman
+ Luna Rossa (ITA/LR) -- Bruno Finzi, Marco Mercuriali and Luis Saenz
+ Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team (ITA/ML) -- Alessandra Pandarese
+ Piu 39 (ITA/39) -- Stefano Feltrin
+ Team Shosholoza (RSA) – Capt Salvatore Sarno
+ United Internet Team Germany (GER) -- Wolf Dietz and Michael Scheeren
+ Victory Challenge (SWE) -- Bjorn Ohde

Also present were CC Assistant Michael ten Bokum (NED/ESP), and, at the invitation of the CC for portions of the meeting:

+ Regatta Director -- Dyer Jones (USA)
+ ACTV Technical Manager -- Keith Catchpole (NZL)
+ ACM Security Chief -- Juan Muñoz (ESP)
+ Valencia 2007 ('V07') Security Chief -- José Vicente Herrera (ESP - Policia Nacional)

The CC expressed their appreciation to all four for their support and continued cooperation.

The CC also expressed its appreciation to the Holiday Inn for their as-always good service, and, especially, to Louis Vuitton for the fine dinner Monday evening in the LV Suite at the Veles e Vents building hosted by Christine Belanger, Bruno Trouble and Monica Savini.

Main decisions and points of discussion:

TV Working Party Report

It was unanimously resolved that the Chair write ACM, and also the TV rights holders in the various countries, asking again for answers to the CC's continuing concerns regarding television production plans and distribution.

ACPI Working Party Report

It was unanimously resolved that the Chair write ACM and SNG to confirm that, in accordance with the Protocol, all AC trademarks and other AC intellectual property registered to and/or currently owned by ACM would in due course be transferred to SNG/ACPI as assets for future America’s Cups.

Security Report

The Challengers received a briefing from ACM and V07 security officials reviewing the current high-level of security in the Port America’s Cup, and plans for additional security in the coming days and weeks. Steps were agreed to strengthen cooperation and communication among the teams, ACM/V07 and government security officials.

Regatta Director’s Report

Dyer Jones reported that he expected to have the LVC Sailing Instructions out to the teams in draft form by 6 February, and that following consultation the SIs would be issued by the 15 February deadline in the LVC NOR.

He also reported that plans to re-align the MDS buoys have been dropped due to opposition by a number of teams, and that all buoys will remain as currently situated.

Dyer said discussions were underway with reps of the CC and the Defender to try to reach an agreement on a fair method of sharing the racing areas, as between the Defender and the Challengers, from the end of Act 13 through the Match on both racing and non-race days. This issue is particularly thorny during the LVC Rounds Robin when three course areas are needed: two for the Challengers and one for the Defender. Subsequent to the meeting, Alinghi kindly proposed a draft course sharing agreement, and details are being negotiated with the expectation that an agreement fair to all concerned can be reached shortly.

The Regatta Director said there is no provision in the LVC Notice of Race or the draft Match NOR for trading GPS data between given yachts in a match. He asked CC reps to please advise him which, if any, Challengers would be interested in trading GPS data with the Defender during the Match should their team win the LVC and become the ultimate Challenger.

Dyer advised the Challengers that the draft NOR for the Match was distributed to the CC’s NOR Task Force in November. Shortly he will circulate a new draft conformed, where there are common provisions, to the wording in the LVC NOR. The NOR Task Force will distribute this draft to all Challengers when received.

Unveiling Agreement

At its October meeting in Milano the CC approved the terms of an agreement with ACM and the Defender on the schedule, special rules and procedure for unveiling, on 1 April 2007, of declared yachts (the one or two yachts nominated by teams as eligible to race in the LVC and, if successful, the Match). Since then a written agreement has been negotiated with ACM and Alinghi, and it was unanimously approved by the CC pending a few minor details yet to be sorted. The terms of the agreement were previously posted here on the CC Blog, and the agreement itself will be posted here after final signing, hopefully by the end of next week.

LVC Racing on 15 April

Desafío Español said they would be available to race on the 15th against another Challenger that was willing (several were). This to get the LVC kicked off on a weekend day – Sunday instead of Monday the 16th as currently scheduled – to aid promotion of the LVC, especially locally. However, ACM said it was not possible to advance the start date at this point in time, so this idea was dropped.

Round Robin Schedule

Current rules (see the Valencia Plan) state the pairing list for the LVC rounds robin, and hence the schedule of RR matches, will be based on the Challenger ranking list final at the end of Act 13. Since the Milano CC meetings several Challengers and ACM suggested establishing the pairing list now, so that the schedule of matches for the LVC Rounds Robin could be known now rather than waiting until the end of Act 13 in April -- just nine days before the start of the LVC. Knowing the RR schedule now would assist planning for media, television and sponsor hospitality.

Several ideas were discussed for how to seed teams into the pairing list now, such as a random drawing same as has been done for all past LVCs. However, several Challengers felt it important to stick to a seeding plan based on Challenger rank at the end of Act 13, which helps assure that teams of similar strength face each other near the end of the rounds robin. Without a strong consensus for change, the CC opted not to amend the Valencia Plan.

Notice of Race for the Louis Vuitton Cup

The CC gave a vote of thanks to the NOR Working Party and Regatta Director Dyer Jones for all the time and effort that went into getting this document negotiated, word-smithed and issued earlier than ever (a full three and a half months before the start of the LVC). Luna Rossa proposed changes to the pairing list, that the Regatta Director had distributed with the NOR, that would further improve the balance of port-starboard entries, north-south course assignments, etc. The CC supported the Luna Rossa proposal, and CC reps will meet with the Regatta Director and Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio (USA) next week to