Team Seacats

A lot of pissing and moaning right now and I can see why people roll their eyes when they see the America’s Cup go to the courts. I haven’t yet had a chance to completely soak in all the documents, but there are allegations that SNG (Alinghi) is planning an “escape route” (my words) by disolving their association with their yacht club and handing the cup over to Team New Zealand who would, in turn, choose SNG as the challenger of record. All this sounds a bit far fetched for me – I wonder if this is designed to try and get Team New Zealand off the fence per se.

What I didn’t report on earlier is that Alinghi had requested that Oracle participate in the Cup’s arbitration process but Oracle refused citing that the names of the people sitting on the arbitration panel were secret and were also people put in place by AGM who is managed by Alinghi. I believe Alinghi intends to have the arbitration anyway.

BYM News Article

Also, because I can’t link to a specific article, I have included the questions asked by Sailing Scuttlebutt of the ACM (America’s Cup Management). This article appeared on the Sailing Scuttlebutt front page this morning.

ACM: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
America’s Cup Management (ACM) is the entity that Alinghi formed to handle the administration of the 32nd America’s Cup. ACM remains in place, with Chief Operating Officer Michel Hodara responding here to some of Scuttlebutt’s lingering questions regarding the 33rd edition:* By the defender participating in the challenger trials (per the Protocol of the 33rd event), is it not possible that the defender may influence the ultimate outcome of the challenger trials? Given that the threat of elimination does not exist for the defender, it would seem conceivable that the defender may choose to lose to a lesser team, which might help this team advance past a stronger challenger that could ultimately pose a problem for the defender in the America’s Cup. At the very least, the participation of the defender does open the door for this type of concern.
MH: “In order to reduce costs, it has been decided to impose to sail only one boat at a time. Therefore, it was reasonable that the Defender could take part in the Challenger series, otherwise, the Defender would have no opportunity to race an opponent while the challengers raced in the Challenger Series.“

* What teams are currently participating with the defender in the design rules for the new class of America’s Cup boat?
MH: “Starting mid-September, the entered Challengers will participate in the rule writing through a consultative process that will take place over several meetings. At this moment of time the entered Challengers are Desafio Espanol, Team Shosholoza, TeamOrigin, Team New Zealand and the German Team who have submitted their entry and who will formally be accepted in the next days.”

* The most recent press announcement by ACM stated that the Protocol for the 33rd Cup was proposed by ACM. Isn’t the matter of protocol something that the Defender and Challenger agree on?
MH: “That is correct and is exactly what happened. The Protocol is the result of many meetings and discussions with the Challenger of Record and its representatives, which lasted most of the duration of the 32nd AC Match. The process was the same than in 2003 with GGYC and BOR.”

* Does ACM speak for SNG?
MH: “Because Yacht Clubs tend to appoint the appropriate professionals to deal with all AC operational and administrative matters, ACM sometimes speaks on behalf of Alinghi’s club, the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG).”

A 2005 Raid Video

Happy Friday!  Compliments of The Horse’s Mouth

The Societe Nautique de Geneve (Alinghi camp) responds.  They are apparently disappointed that Oracle has followed through with the court case.  Sounds a little whiny to me and almost like they feel like the case will have teeth.  If they haven’t broken the Deed of Gift, why would they care?  I smell fear.  85% of SailingWorld.com readers side with Oracle and the Golden Gate YC.  Take the poll HERE.

According to an article on the Golden Gate Yacht Club website, the New York State Supreme Court orders Alinghi Club to speed up the legal process after granting an order sought by the Golden Gate Yacht Club (BMW Oracle Racing).  Tom Ehman, Head of External Affairs for BMW Oracle Racing said:

“We would still prefer to negotiate a solution outside the court, but we see SNG as violating its responsibilities as Trustee, and we are fully prepared to go the legal distance if needed to stop the America’s Cup being subverted into a hopelessly one-sided event,”

This action seeks a preliminary injunction to obtain critical information related to the club’s challenge under the Deed of Gift. GGYC asserts that SNG (Alinghi’s yacht club) must accept the challenge by the USA team. This case could be heard by the courts as early as October 2007.