Alinghi responds to Challenger's rejection of America's Cup venue

by Daphne Morgan Barnicoat on 3 Oct 2009
Alinghi skipper and Societe Nautique de Geneve America's Cup Committee member, Brad Butterworth, a four-time America's Cup winner responds to the rejection of the 33rd America's Cup venue by Golden Gate YC.

'Larry Ellison, Russell Coutts and their yacht club, the Golden Gate, seem to believe that the 33rd America's Cup can be won in court as their 7th legal challenge demonstrates. Our team is ready to compete in Ras al Khaimah, UAE, the official venue for the 33rd America's Cup and will begin four months of intensive training before the start of the America's Cup Match on 8 February 2010.

BMW Oracle's latest lawsuit is further proof of their unsportsmanlike behaviour. We will only return to the legal process to show that it is sporting character and sailing strategy that wins races, not litigation. Meanwhile our Cup preparations and training will continue in Ras al Khaimah where we hope they will deign to join us for the America's Cup Match.
As Trustee of the America's Cup, we are convinced that Ras al Khaimah is the perfect and legitimate venue for the 33rd edition of sport's oldest trophy. New York Supreme Court Justice Cahn's order of 2008 stated that ‘the location of the match shall be in Valencia or any other location selected by SNG'. As far as BMW Oracle's security concerns: Tiger Woods plays in the UAE every year, Roger Federer plays here every year, and even Russell Coutts sails here every year.

Their claims regarding the Deed of Gift prevailing over the order of the Court are in conflict with previous submissions on the date of the match. Their complaints as to safety are not truly held by them, demonstrated by the fact that they have relocated personnel to Ras Al Khaimah, and have equipment at the venue in preparation for the Match.
We believe this lawsuit is yet another tactic employed by Larry Ellison and BMW Oracle to avoid racing us for the Cup on the water.'

Update

Société Nautique de Genève legal counsel wrote to New York Supreme Court Justice Kornreich on Friday stating the defending yacht club's position on the challenger's latest lawsuit contesting the venue choice on the grounds of safety and suggesting a date for argumentation in October.

Extract from the letter:

[…] Yesterday evening at 11:03pm I received an email indicating that GGYC has filed a motion challenging the propriety of Ras al Khaimah as the venue for the 33rd America’s Cup and requesting the Court to relocate the venue of the America’s Cup from Ras al Khaimah to Valencia, Spain. The principal grounds of the motion appears to be that the venue SNG has chosen is unsafe even though Oracle, whose chairman, Larry Ellison, owns BMW Oracle, sponsors GGYC and financed GGYC’s vessel does substantial business in the UAE and Oracle has an office in the UAE. GGYC’s law firm, Latham & Watkins, also has an office in the UAE. Significantly, Russell Coutts, the skipper of BMW Oracle organizes an annual regatta in Dubai (50km from Ras al Khaimah, UAE) in November. […]

You can read the full text of the letter http://multimedia.alinghi.com/multimedia/docs/2009/10/091002_SNG_letter_to_Justice_Kornreich.pdf!by_clicking_here