No penalty for Alinghi; protest by Emirates Team NZ dismissed

The America's Cup Match returns back to normality. The protest filed by Emirates Team NZ yesterday evening was dismissed by the Jury and as a result, Alinghi will not get any penalty and the series remains tied at 2-2.

Just like most of the protests in the America's Cup, it is based on a small technicality that the general public will not understand, in this case a detail concerning the way the mainsail must be dropped.

Briefly, Rule 31.6 of the America's Cup Class Rule states that "mainsails shall be able to be lowered to the deck without the necessity of a crew member going aloft". After the end of yesterday's race, one measurer went aboard each yacht and asked the teams to lower their mainsail without any crew member going aloft. Emirates Team NZ apparently did so without any sailor climbing on the mast but Alinghi had Pieter van Nieuwenhuyzen up the rig. According to Alinghi, he was there to attach a halyard to prevent the sail from crashing down onto the deck when the halyard lock was released by a trip cord operated at deck level.

Emirates Team NZ protested that Alinghi broke the America's Cup class rule but the jury dismissed the protest.