Gladwell's Line- America's Cup likely to return to NY Supreme Court

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.Com on 24 Apr 2009
The America's Cup seems to be destined to return to Court as a result of the action of Defender, Societe Nautique de Geneve rejecting the offer of a Multi Challenger event sailed in yachts to the AC33 rule, made by the Challenger of Record, Golden Gate Yacht Club.

At a meeting in Geneva, on Thursday, SNG/Alinghi did not accept the Multi Challenger proposal, instead they opted for a Match in 90ft or 115ft LWL multihulls, the maximum sized yacht allowed in the Deed of Gift.

SNG/Alinghi also announced that they would Defend in May 2010, and apparent contravention of a New York Supreme Court order requiring a match to be sailed on 8 February 2010.

The response from Golden Gate YC and their team BMW Oracle Racing was to request that the statement regarding a Defence date be put in writing.

Once that is done it seems that the matter will be referred back to the New York Supreme Court for further decision and action. The confirmation of dates by the Court could be done either by a letter to the Court, or at a full Hearing with a new Judge, as Justice cahn has returned to private practice.

SNG/Alinghi did make the offer to allow other teams to participate in a Multihull Challenge, however few would be expected to take this option seriously, unless they already had a craft under design/build, or could secure the use of such a boat, and it complied with the construction requirements of the Deed of Gift.

The reason for the changed date announcement by SNG/Alinghi is that the Deed of Gift states that for a Match in the Northern Hemisphere it must be sailed between May and October. In his last ruling the since retired Justice Herman Cahn determined that the Match should be staged in February 2010, and the 8 February 2010 date was constructed from the date of the Appeal decision by the New York Court of Appeals on the question of whether Club Nautico Espannol de Vela was a legitimate Challenger of Record.

The question of the date set by Justice Cahn was not the subject of Appeal and the date issue was not decided by the Appeal Court.

While the May 2010 date is in accordance with the Deed of Gift, it is believed that a decision of the Supreme Court on a point of interpretation will override the provisions of the Deed of Gift.

The date, when promulgated by the Defender will trigger a Court Hearing for non-compliance.

The move does of course give the Defender more time to build and prepare for the America's Cup. At best they are believed to be two months away from launch date, while the Challenger is already on its third set of sea trials off San Diego.

Should GGYC take no formal action to dispute the date, then it will be deemed to have accepted the May 2010 schedule, and that would in turn delay for another two months the announcement of the venue for the Defence, which must be made six months before the Match, buying further time for Alinghi.

That timeline would also mean that the match would finally take place 34 months after the Challenge was lodged by Golden Gate YC in July 2007. A Match that, barring legal argument, should have been sailed 10 months later.

For the other Challengers and America's Cup teams, all eyes now turn to Paris and Louis Vuitton, whose emissaries have been working behind the scenes since the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland.

It would seem likely that some racing will be attempted this year, probably with bid venues at little real cost to Louis Vuitton.

The question now to be faced by the America's Cup teams as to whether they can financially survive to May 2010.

The outcome for the next multi challenger America's Cup is probably unaltered, and that should take place starting in May 2011, at the earliest, in AC33 yachts.

How the teams operate in the meantime will be interesting, some will no doubt fold or be mothballed. others will survive in alternate competition.

Of course, the way is now clear for the former Challengers to form their own group, and promote their own competition free of negotiations with America's Cup Management. They would probably find a willing sponsor, in Louis Vuitton, and a willing backer in Golden Gate Yacht Club.

Such a move could pave the way to a (Louis Vuitton) World Series, hosted at various bidded venues around the world, sailed in America's Cuppers to the V5 rule, or modified, on an own boat, or borrowed boat basis. The series of regattas would be along similar lines to the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, and now that the America's Cup is a Multihull event, there can be little risk of legal obstacles through 'passing off'.

Such an event would mesh very well with a re-vitalised America's Cup, should Golden Gate YC win in February/May 2010 and it is likely that such a Series would grow and be partnered with a traditional 34th America's Cup.

It has been mooted that a Mediterranean LV series could take place this year, replacing the ACM planned regatta series. For 2010 a true LV World Series would seem to be an option, with venues such as San Francisco, Valencia, Hong Kong, and Auckland, giving a true global spread in the course of a year or so - which has never been possible under the Defender-centric model. Earlier there was talk of an event in South Africa to coincide with the buildup for the 2010 World Football Cup.

Now is a time for leadership within the America's Cup family, rather than being mesmerised by the latest outpourings from Geneva.

That move could come from Golden Gate YC who now have the ability to take a leaf from the New York Yacht Club's America's Cup Manual and announce the basis of the 34th America's Cup should they prevail in the 33rd Match. That statement would probably be sufficient to give most teams the lead on likely timing of the 34th America's Cup and the shape of the preliminary event schedule.

Given that the 34th Match is likely to be a single boat affair for the Challengers, building would have to start for a Team NZ boat in May/June 2010, for a launch in October/November 2010 and start of competition in April 2011 in Valencia, or maybe later if the event moved to San Francisco.

An announcement of the basic details plus formulation of the AC34 rule would enable Challengers to proceed in parallel with the Multihull Match, and worst case if the event were sailed in May 2010, the timing would be rather tight. Best case if the 33rd match is sailed in February 2010, then there is time for some preliminary organisation.

But on either date the announcement by GGYC would be sufficient for design work and testing to be got underway, without waiting for the outcome of the Multihull Match to be known.

Should Alinghi prevail in February/may 2010, then it is expected that they would dust off the work that had already been undertaken in the six Competitor Meetings that have been held, and make a similar statement about their intentions regarding timing and venue.

The only possible delay could be with further Supreme Court litigation subsequent to the Multihull Match.

However the decision taken overnight by SNG/Alinghi has very little upside for them. For the wider Challenger group some definition has been bought to the process for the 34th Match, and once an announcement is made by GGYC, then they can plan on just two scenarios and two venue options.