San Diego Yacht Club Files Amicus-Curiae Brief as well
[Source: San Diego Yacht Club] The San Diego Yacht Club and the San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation jointly filed an Amicus-Curiae Brief (friend of the court) to the New York Court of Appeals on December 31, 2008.
As many members know, the fate of America’s Cup is currently in the hands of the New York Court of Appeals. The final hearing will be held in that Court on February 10, 2009 with a decision expected in late March 2009 or early April 2009.
Given San Diego Yacht Club’s prior involvement in the America’s Cup as a former Trustee and defender of the America’s Cup races held off of the coast of San Diego during 1992 and 1995, the San Diego Yacht Club Board of Director’s and the San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation felt compelled to provide written evidence to the court in support of Golden Gate Yacht Club’s position relative to the definition of an “organized” yacht club as described in the America’s Cup Deed of Gift and, therefore, the necessary qualifications required for a yacht club to be accepted as a Challenger of Record.
San Diego Yacht Club’s and San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation’s position is supported by the New York Yacht Club who also filed a separate Amicus-Curiae Brief to the New York Court of Appeals on the very same day.
Labels: 33rd America's Cup
51 Comments:
Desperate. Ehman getting his old buddies, this time on the West coast,to try and help keep him in a job. This will never fly. Court will see right thru it.
Mr Anonymous - you are so obviously a paid PR poster for Alinghi. Your Howard Rubenstien agency will be relieved to dump this Bertarelli account after he loses in court. Your personal-attack PR does not work when you are dealing with smart people like those who read Valencia Sailing and participate in the SA AC Forum. Obviously are not too bright yourself or you would not, on behalf of your client, be insulting NYYC and SDYC by suggesting they could somehow be manipulated by TE or anyone else for that matter. Judging by the comments here and at the SAACF, the vast majority who have read and evaluated these two latest amicus briefs find them clear, logical and compelling. All of your comments have been utterly unconstructive, and just further illustrate the weakness if your client's legal and moral position.
Right on .... the desperate final moves of a desperate man! Ehman has done US Sailing a huge disservice, he has backhandedly destroyed the reputation of American sailors all over the world.
How ridiculous is it that BOR now has to copy Allinghi with those last minute filings for the court? The case is closed, and will stay closed. The next AC will be without an American entry, and that is solely due to the railroading of Mr. Ellison trying to gain an advantage in the court. He has never won anything on the water.
Unfortunately the history of the AC is sprinkled with US court action whenever the Americans feel they are about to loose the cup. That doesn't bode well with American sportsmanship. I for one would prefer if they would compete on the water like the rest of the world instead of trying to gain the upper hand with legal maneuvers.
US Sailing is embarrassed by BOR, Mr. Ellison and Mr. Ehman. It is an open secret that US Sailing would love to rid themselves of BOR. They deeply regret not having an alternative to Mr. Ellisons BOR team. US Sailing has been desperately trying behind the scenes to find another team representing the USA, but now its too late. They are concentrating now their efforts to find another team for the next AC, one that has absolutely no involvement of Mr. Ellison.
The court-room agenda of BOR has been a disaster for the USA. The largest part of the American sailing community is embarrassed by BOR and wish BOR had never started their legal agenda. How even more so as all the teams have agreed to a fair protocol. Its a shame that Mr. Ellison did not participate in the process of forming the next AC. Rather he decided to pursue the legal avenue, and that option does not represent the USA well in the international community. Good bye AC.
Hola Sr. Ellison, that's what you get when you think as an American you can rule the world. The world did not ask you to be the policeman of the AC. Go home, and don't come back.
I can assure you that US SAILING has not been involved in any way in this AC fight. Personally, I am 100% supportive of Ellison and Ehman, as obviously are the NYYC and SDYC and likely most American sailors. I hope BOR prevails in court so that the Deed of Gift and Cup is not hijacked by a Swiss profiteer whose business track record has been a succession of failures. Everything Mr Bertarelli has touched has gone wrong: Maxi One-Design, Swiss Air, UBS, Serono and now the America's Cup.
Well, the 5:05PM poster is obviously suffering from delusions. Its common knowledge and a generally accepted fact of AC life that the last AC in Valencia was by far the best AC in its history ; from a sporting AND commercial perspective. Could it be that some members of the American AC community are envious that Europe has put on a better and far more successful event?
Funny how some Americans talk of "hi-jacking" the cup when their own team has not been able to win it on the water. Now the only option is a court room strategy, albeit "in the interest of the free sailing world" - what a crock of shite. The free sailing world has worked out a fair protocol, and the free sailing world is ready to go sailing! Meantime BOR is blocking it!
I find it really funny when so many SNG/Alinghi posters post w/out even referencing their understanding of the Deed. Like SNG, you don't get it that the Deed has terms & conditions.
Further that the Deed's court outcome as a Trust impacts other NYSC Trust's. Just think what happens when other NYSC Trust's Trustee's follow the SNG model by not fulling the terms & conditions of the Deed. Yep, huge impact on NYSC Trusts.
The amicus briefs from NYYC & SDYC are all about the Deed. There is 130+ years of experience there. What are you guys going to say when RNZYS & RPYC come out w/ supporting amicus briefs like the other past Trustees.
Obviously SNG has not read the Deed otherwise they would not have turned everything over to Alinghi. SNG better wake up soon or as a yacht club they are going to be in big trouble when the NYSC comes knocking.
"Well, the 5:05PM poster is obviously suffering from delusions. Its common knowledge and a generally accepted fact of AC life that the last AC in Valencia was by far the best AC in its history ; from a sporting AND commercial perspective. Could it be that some members of the American AC community are envious that Europe has put on a better and far more successful event?"
Yeah AC32 was a success and BMWO was the COR so they deserve a lot of credit for how AC32 turned out. So that means an American Team helped make the AC in Europe a success. Imagine that.
To the 7:19 pm poster.
If you truly believe BOR as COR helped in any way the 32AC, it means you are remote from reality to an unbelievable extent.
Ehman tried to exist all along blocking and slowing the system. He was virtually dead at end of 32AC. He resuscited through the court case. But it is not for long. He's a bad person. Very bad.
I too find it amusing that there is so much US-bashing as a substitute for actually knowing what the issues are. The simple fact is that one megalomaniacal control freak wants to have it all his way, no matter what the "rules" are, and a whole boat load of euro-peons are basically raising their hand in salute.
Sheesh. If *anyone* should learn from history about how to quit surrenduring to the "cult of charisma", it should be you.
If you want to discuss the *facts* of the matter, great. We can have a lively discussion about whether or not the Deed of Gift requires that a challenger be a valid yacht club, and whether or not CNEV is one. But if all you want to do is throw anti-american rhetoric, well... there's a fair amount of crap that will stick to you, as well.
You have to go easy on these Euro posters - they don't understand how a real legal system works. In Spain, this case would still be ten years away from being heard - or it would all be over and the Judges would have brand new cars courtesy of Ernesto. Having an efficient, non-corrupt court is anathema to a continental European.
Gentlemen, I don't think there is a lot of US bashing here, to the contrary, most American sailors are concerned how their reputation has been tarnished by the legal agenda of BOR. I do see a lot of "Allinghi bashing" though, which is very funny, because they have been the first AC holder to work out a protocol not with one challenger but with all registered participants. That unfortunately excludes the BOR team, as they have chosen to fight in the court instead of sitting at the table with all of the other teams of the world! And that is truly disappointing.
There is a lot of contention inside the BOR team over the legal agenda of BOR. How do I know? I am one of those! The vast majority of the BOR team is totally fed up with Larry's posturing. We want to get back on the water and compete. Unfortunately looks like that option will not exist for us BORs in the next AC. Back to a noprmal job, there will be no paychecks after Australia. Many of us wish there had been another US team!
"...do see a lot of "Allinghi bashing" though, which is very funny, because they have been the first AC holder to work out a protocol not with one challenger but with all registered participants."
Ok, two things.
1) No, they're not the first AC holder to work out a protocol with all registered participants. Past protocols were negotiated by a strong Challenger of Record, on behalf of all challengers. In this case, the CoR is a lap-dog.
2) The Alinghi-bashing is really centered on Erne$to. Sure, every defender wants to keep the Cup. But in this case, rather than keeping the Cup by mounting a strong defense and defeating the strongest of the Challengers, Erne$to's approach is to keep the Cup by ensuring that all the challengers are weak. He's doing this by three explicit things: manipulating the protocol so that he can change the rules whenever it suits him; making (for the first time in history) a provision which allows him to sail in - and affect the outcome in - the Challenger series; and working to exclude any strong challengers. As a result, he'll end up facing only weakened competition. B design.
There's simply no honor in that.
Forget the rich tradition of the America's Cup. Erne$to has trashed it, single-handedly. If AC33 ever makes it to the water under the existing protocol, it will be the first time in history when the Cup outcome was cast in back-room deals, between a bunch of pawns who *chose* to allow themselves to be weakened and manipulated.
Hahaha the "BOR sailor" comment takes the cake for nonsense... how much fun would it be to invent an "Alinghi Sailor" persona and describe my daily routine of making the Ayre Challenge CEO get me coffee...
As for the comment about 2007 being an overwhelming success, I and every other American sailor (most likely) completely agree. It was wonderful to see the Cup so alive and healthy, and we wanted a repeat. Indeed, Oracle has said that they would instantly drop their suit if the rules were simply THE SAME as in 2007.
Therefore, it is impossible to simultaneously support Alinghi in this court case while holding up 2007 as an example of a great Cup competition, because Alinghi, in changing the protocol, has designated 2007 to be an unacceptable situation. I'm guessing those 2 races Hutchinson and Barker took off of them had something to do with that. Just thought I would point out that lovely contradiction.
Cheers, and I'm proud that the Americans on this board have managed to separate their political views from sailing and have not turned to mindless bashing of European nations and their honorable citizens.
The last AC stank. There was no wind for weeks. Alinghi refused to adjust the schedule to get a challenger series in fair conditions for picking the best winner. There was almost no passing except when things broke. The races were so short that whoever got the preferred start won most of the time.
It looks like some people think that because they are in Europe and it was in Europe it was all a rousing success compared to the past. (How many AC's have they seen, we wonder). Just because a European team has the Cup, don't they don't have to do things like follow rules and play fair. Why won't Alinghi try to run a fair event? Why are they and you so upset somebody might make them?
TNZ filed suit against Alinghi too and Mascalzone (From Italia, a European country most would say) is outspoken on the unfairness and duplicity that Alinghi. So pretend its a Euro vs. American thing all you want. But the rest of us don't have to be against Bertarelli and this Alinghi sham because it's European. The fact that Alinghi is unfair and underhanded is enough reason to object to Alnghi's attempted desecration of the America's Cup.
If Alinghi could behave like a decent fair group of sailors instead of a bunch of conniving PR-focused spoiled snotty children, maybe things would work out. But God forbid anybody should stand up for the good of the America's Cup and its fans. Then they can be accused of such terrible crimes as being American, of going to court to have the law enforced, and of having support of the broader sailing community, defined as being that community which does not depend on Bertarelli for money or favors. For some reason people writing comments here think nobody sees right through some sort of organized agenda directed at Tom Ehman, who is guilty of working for a team pursing a lawsuit against a guy who won't follow the law. Note to employees: Going after Ehman by name is a dead giveaway as to who you work for, by the way. Everybody else would at least be trying to blame Larry Ellison.
Come on. Say it louder. Maybe you'll convince somebody sooner or later. How dare he resist Alinghi's unfairness and illegalness. Nobody but Bertarelli is permitted to decide what's fair or what's illegal, least of all a court of law.
Why don't you stop to ask yourself who's being sued and what they did wrong? Why sooner or later, nobody likes the guy running Alinghi and he burns his bridges with them as time goes by. He brings this on himself. Think you are his friend? Think that he's giving you some special treatment? Just wait. Your turn is coming.
Kudos to NYYC and SDYC for standing up for principle.
Supporter: you are making a few good points. But you forget a most important issue: the issue of economics. BOR has been THE ONLY team supporting a multiple boat-per-team challenge, which is economically not feasible (especially not in these times). Teams cannot afford to build multiple entries along with super expensive tank testing. That is why the new protocol was created: to permit teams from all over the world entry into the AC with much lowered costs. The exception: Larry Ellison! With his billions, of course he prefers the old protocol because he can simply outspend the competition. So your argument of "lets do it again just like the last one" sounds good on the surface, but is not economically viable, unless you want an AC with only 2-3 entries.
There seems to be a lot of polarization on this board, and bashing on both sides going on. Maybe the posters should take the AC challengers to heart who sat down with Alinghi, and mutually resolved their contentions to arrive at a fair protocol. The view that the challengers are just mindless followers of Alinghi is actually quite arrogant. The challengers are well capable of speaking for themselves, and don't need an American spokesman.
Thanks VS for the chance to make a comment in neutral forum. SA AC is just BOR poison, pompous, misogynist, bullying rednecks, an embarrassment to my fine country.
As for the Cup all but dead thanks to all of this.
The exception: Ernesto Bertarelli! With his billions, of course he prefers the new protocol because he can simply outspend the competition and change the rules and officials to his benefit whenever he wants.
Mr. Ellison should ask himself why ALL THE OTHER TEAMS registered for the next AC are able to resolve their problems, but he cannot? Whats so hard about sitting down and talking? Trying to resolve different points of view? Just suing everybody is not a very diplomatic approach, now is it? The outcome of this legal action is an AC that has divided sailors and fans alike. And that is not something to be proud of, even if the BOR public relations machine wants you to believe that.
BTW - it wont be BOR much longer, as BMW will announce their withdrawal from Mr. Ellisons sailing effort shortly. Ahhh, that's right, (I forgot) BMW is just another European poodle sponsor .....
It is interesting that some only say its BMWO's fault that the Cup is in the situation it is in now and thats it. No mention about the merits of the court dealings. Just "A bunch of Challengers worked things out so everything is ok now" and thats it.
How about commenting on Alinghi sailing in the Challenger selection series? Does that make any sense. Yes the argument is made with one boat Alinghi has no way to test their boat. Well SNG can put out requests for other Swiss Challengers can it not? SDYC did that not once but twice. It worked ok in '92 and not so well in '95. But the important thing is the Defender actually had a selection series to find the best Defender. EB and all his billions could easily pull that off. But he's not and there is a good reason why he isn't.
RuffHogue: Amen. Yes, I agree the sailing conditions were Qindao-esque and usually bad. But at least the rules were fair and the the competition somewhat lively (Luna Rossa, Desafio and ETNZ all did better than expected). This is why I said it was a good event. On all your other pionts, I agree on principle. Yeah, the races themselves were a bit devoid of passing. This is why a new class is needed, and sadly the AC90 was tainted by Alinghi's untrustworthiness. The new smaller class proposed by Bertarelli in my opinion lacks the majesty of previous AC classes. He seems to want to turn the event into the TP52 medcup.
Anonymous: The issue of two-boat vs. one-boat challenges is a good topic to debate, and its true that older cup protocols were financially unfair. I like that Alinghi wants to move in this direction. On a side note, perhaps this will bring back the era of boats being known by nationally-inspired names, instead of unexciting, barcode-like sail numbers. Small details such as this have greatly enriched the history of the event and have been absent in recent Cups. However, this topic, of single boat challenges, is completely irrelevant to the court case, and is not the reason for the ongoing war of Alinghi vs. Oracle. The way that Alinghi brought up the issue of one-boat challenges suggests that they did it to distract everyone from the main issue, which was the fairness of how the racing rules themselves are set up. It was great PR move on their part, as was the so-called Challenger "conference", but both were can be easily recognized as tactics designed to change the topic of the debate.
Simply put, the rules and officials should be agreed upon by the Defender and a strong Challenger of Record, who independently represents and fights for all of the other challengers. Its a simple concept of balance of power. This is the cause of a year and a half of struggle, and we should stay focused on this topic.
Complete hogwash ..... don't tell us that negotiations with one challenger (on behalf of all of them) is more democratic then negotiations with all the challengers.
Americans once again trying to impose their will on the rest of the world. And if the rest of the world has its own ideas, well then we just go ahead and sue them (in our own court - its called home field advantage!)
The last AC was the best ever. Ah, excuse me, there wasn't enough wind, yeah, that's right, must have been Allinghis fault! Ah, not much passing going on because of the class of boats, must have been Allinghis fault (never mind that the class of boat was determined by BOR!). Ah, the last AC was great because BOR was the challenger ..... more bullshite - BOR was the one team putting roadblocks in wherever they could thanks to Mr. Ehman.
American Sailing is in complete disarray because of BOR. Throw LE out, and get other teams involved which demonstrate sportsmanship and respect for the event and fellow US sailors.
SNG and Alinghi colluded with the Spanish to set up a sham yacht club: CNEV, to insure that the economic benefits of the America's Cup regatta would remain in Valencia. Either in a quid pro quo or in a remarkable dereliction of duty, CNEV ceded complete control of the event to SNG/Alinghi.
This is a precedent, that if it is left to stand, can be used to do something similar or far worse in the future.
It doesn't matter how many teams get together and work out their differences if they do so while eviscerating the America's Cup Deed of Trust.
Americans are sore losers. The last AC they won was with Bill Koch some 17 years ago (America3). Koch had guts, exhibited sportsmanship, and was AC successful - all qualities that elude Mr. Ellison.
The only quality the LE exhibits is railroading, blocking, and spreading poison. Luckily the next AC will be without him!
poster 7:11 unfortunately you are completely out of touch with reality. The AC is always organized by the defender - that has always been the case (just ask the San Diego club). The organizer (defender) is responsible for all aspects of the AC, that is the defenders right and obligation. If BOR wanted to be challenger of record why didn't they present their challenge timely? You snooze you loose!
But, please, tell me: when was the last AC during which ALL PARTICIPANTS sat down and mutually agreed to the protocol? Was there any? Maybe one in the USA? Of course not .......
The big issue once again is folks not understanding the history of the AC, the tradition & especially the Deed.
7:11pm got it right that this Alinghi Cup is all about $ & Enrievision. Well that's not what The Cup is about nor it's terms & conditions. It's got nothing to do w/ a professional league or employing people for long term. The Deed makes the event all about "competition between foreign countries", boat design, boat building & a challenge cup match.
Where folks don't get it, is that you can't fit a round object into a square hole. If these teams are so keen to make a pro league, go do it elsewhere but don't use The Cup. It's a trust & spells out how it's going to be used.
As for these teams, supporting Enrievision, Vincenzo Onorato got it right about them, "You could make other amicus brief being signed by teams which from the America's Cup expect anything but a loyal competition; the so called "professional" of sailing which means those who wish to make money from sailing, have not always honoured our sport, too eager for money and not for the competition. "
The big question about Enrievision will be when they continue to appeal or continue to refuse a multi challenge after GGYC is successful in court. That tells you it's all about control & $ just like 7:11pm stated.
Americans are envious of the sporting and commercial success that teams from other parts of the world had. The last time an AC was held in the US (1995!) they were blown out 0:5. The 2007 AC was an overwhelming success. US entries have not shown well for almost 20 years, and that has pissed them off.
Americans would be better served concentrating on the sport, and not on backdoor strategies or spreading poison.
If the America Cup is about America, why then invite challengers from other countries? If the AC has this beautiful "American" history based on an American trust, why have other nations participate? Its obvious that USA cannot handle the fact that they haven't been successful for over 14 years. And even worse that Valencia put on the best AC show ever! Pathetic how one US team has spoiled it everybody. Would have been nice to have real sportsman represent us, such as Koch, Turner, Conners, Baird (how is driving Allinghi!). The super-ego Mr. Ellison will never be in their league.
746pm - I take it you have never looked at the challenge docs. They were done & signed b4 the last race was even finished. Violation of the Trust & how could anyone else get in when that was done.
Again we go back to the Deed. What again you fail to understand is that it's a Trust & the Defender (Defending Club) has to follow the Trust. Even w/ mutual consent there are parts of the Trust the Defender has to follow. They haven't & that's why things are in NYSC.
Having all these poodles agree means nothing if they are not following the Trust/Deed. It's just a red herring like having 1 boat.
Btw Alinghi is not the Defender & should have anything to do w/ organizing The Cup. The Cup is under the trust of SNG but what have they done, nothing. Again, no one cares to follow the Deed.
SNG better wake up as they could find themselves in big trouble under USA laws for not fulfilling their duties w/ the Deed. This next round of court isn't just going to be about "having", it's going to go a lot more deeper & wider than SNG ever wished for.
Again folks, remember the Deed is a Trust under US law. It's not some CNEV Sailing Instructions for some Opti regatta.
the 8:40 poster is rambling about "The Trust" and "The American Law" - wake up, buddy! The AC hasn't been an American Cup for 17 years. Why? Because the Americans have not managed to win it! Because they prefer the easy way out (like winning in the court?). In case you haven't noticed: it was an AMERICAN court which overturned the previous AMERICAN decision. So much for that "American Tradition and Heritage" - their own court confirmed it.
BOR has put themselves and US Sailing into a corner. All the Euro Bashing and poison about the rest of the world doesn't change that. The US sailor today has the worst image of any in the world!
peelman - its obvious from your blog that you are a misguided person who cannot see reality for what it is. There are those who make the cool aid, and those who drink it. You are part of the latter group .....
Anonymous @ 7:46PM said "The AC is always organized by the defender ... the organizer (defender) is responsible for all aspects of the AC, that is the defenders right and obligation."
In the age of the multiple challenger, this is not true. And prior to 1970 the challenger had the say as to what the yachts would be and when the match would be. That's what the Trust says.
Never before has the defender claimed the power to reject challenging yacht clubs at its sole discretion, or disqualify any club who disputes the Protocol or the Defender's authority. Never before has the defender claimed the right to arbitrarily appoint management for and supervise the Challenger Selection Series, and all of the Regatta Officials. Nor has any defender proclaimed that they will unilaterally determine the rules, and unveil them only 60 days before the event and retain the authority to change them at any time.
The amount of control ceded to SNG/Alinghi for the 33rd America's Cup Regatta is unprecedented. And the accumulated all of this power by colluding to create a sham Yacht Club. That is why everyone is awaiting the Court decision instead of sailing.
Wrong, everybody wants to go sailing but is being blocked by one team!
Anonymous 9:11 & 9:13pm - obviously you don't understand the Basic Principle of Sailing....sportsmanship.
If you can't respect the rules do your turns, drop out or don't sail.
SNG/Alinghi doesn't want to follow the rules so they are before the courts which in this case interprets the rules.
Allinghi
1) Only team in the world to win with first entry
2)Only team with perfect record
3)Most successful ever AC (2007)
4)Organizing the next AC with the largest number of entries in AC history (20 entries)
5)First ever protocol developed by all teams together
BOR
1)Blocking the 33rd AC with court actions
2)Was eliminated in the 32nd AC in early rounds
3)Has been repeatedly asked by ALL OTHER TEAMS to drop its legal action and to get back on the water
The 32nd America’s Cup has been the largest, most open and widely accessible America’s Cup in 156 years of history. Over 6-million people have visited its venues, and its television footage has reached 4-billion viewers.
“I think all of us can be proud of what has been achieved here in Valencia over the last four years,” said Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management, the event organiser. “This first America’s Cup in Europe has been a big step forward for the oldest and most prestigious sporting prize. When Alinghi won the America’s Cup in 2003, we had a vision for what the next event should be like. To achieve that, we have worked collectively with the teams, sponsors, host city and the media to evolve the America’s Cup so that it reflects the times we live in, while remaining true to its heritage.”
The success of the first America’s Cup in Europe has been based around four main axis of evolution:
The four years of sailing in the Louis Vuitton Acts represented one of the largest changes. For the first time, the teams and the public could enjoy meaningful America’s Cup racing during each year between the two America’s Cup Matches. The result was the closest America’s Cup in recent history, where all 12 teams were quite evenly matched. The best example was the America’s Cup Match itself, with the closest scoreline since the advent of the America’s Cup Class, numerous lead changes, and a final race decided by just one second.
Due to the Louis Vuitton Acts, and the purpose built venue in Valencia – Port America’s Cup – the public has had a closer relationship with the America’s Cup than ever before. In addition to the four sailing venues of Valencia, Marseille, Malmö-Skåne and Trapani, the America’s Cup trophy travelled to 18 other cities around the world. With this higher profile – over 100 000 press articles have been written about this edition of the Cup, for example – this America’s Cup has attracted top tier, international sponsors, both to the event and to the teams.
The host city selection process which saw Valencia selected as the best venue for the first America’s Cup in Europe guaranteed the creation of Port America’s Cup – the biggest and most modern sailing venue in the world. With room for 12 team bases around a central basin, Superyacht facilities, a Marina for over 600 boats, an award-winning landmark building in the Veles e Vents facility and the AC Park (23 restaurants, bars and cafés, over 30 interactive areas, three historical exhibitions, three ‘giant screen’ areas to watch the racing, and a concert facility).
Finally, the funding of the event and the return of surplus revenue, projected to be more than 30 million euros, to the teams is a significant step forward in allowing Cup teams from this cycle to be on a solid financial footing for the 33rd America’s Cup.
Interesting comments since the last time I checked on this topic. What I don't understand is why a sailing team (BMWO) Skippered by a Kiwi is somehow destroying the reputation of USA Sailing and USA Sailors. I'm sure the majority making those comments are probably not American and who cares what they think anyway.
Another interesting tidbit is some are now begging for men of honor from US AC sailings past to rescue USA sailings reputation from Larry Ellison. One name mentioned most is Bill Koch who successfully defended the Cup in '92. Well BYMNews has a little piece up on their site saying that Bill Koch and John Bertrand plan to enter the fray tomorrow (Monday) with the aim to get SNG stripped of the Cup and their trustee duties because they have been a poor trustee.
Be careful what you wish for...
I would post a link to this tidbit on the BYMNews site but I will leave that to Mr. Pierre.
Ah screw it! Here is the link I mentioned in my previous comment:
http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=48627
I'm sure Bill Koch will get trashed because he is an American and us American's are evil. But how will John Bertrand being involved be seen by some who have commented on this site? Should be interesting.
What it all boils down to is if Alinghi had not made an embarrassingly botched attempt to have total control of AC33 (fueled by greed), they would not have left the door wide open for another egotistical billionaire, also with his own interest in mind, to help lead The Cup to the situation it is in today.
There is nobody clearly in the right. Both teams are at fault.
I would have assumed that the Alinghi legal team would have looked a little deeper into the plan that they hatched for when they regained The Cup,... although assumption is the mother of all @$%#! ups.
The challenger is always selected by the entries trying to be challenger. It's a conflict of interest for the defender to control their event and influence selection of a challenger the defender thinks they can more easily beat. The New York Yacht Club never had anything to do with picking the challenger or running their races. Alinghi wants to go beyond even that and race in their races and collect their GPS data during the race. And they've said they want to do away with the whole idea of there being a defender vs. challenger match at all. For the good of the America's Cup, don't you see why so many people think Bertarelli is wrong?
I agree, that both team owners have exhibited unwise decision making. BUT ..... there is one major difference between the two: Mr. Bertarelli after faced with overwhelming criticism over the next protocol sat down WTIH ALL THE TEAMS and worked out an amicable solution. To the point that ALL THE TEAMS are pleading with BOR to drop their law suit. Doesn't that mean something?
Americans are a bunch of sore losers! When things don't go their way, they start throwing dirt (or bombs)
"To the point that ALL THE TEAMS are pleading with BOR to drop their law suit. Doesn't that mean something?"
To little to late IMO. BMWO has been asking since the court buisness started for mediation. SNG/Alinghi refused. That is over a year of regection by SNG/Alinghi. Now at the last minute SNG/Alinghi gets together a bunch of Teams (both legit and somewhat shaddy) and they work out the "details". All the while telling BMWO to drop their suit and join. Well after being rejected and insulted by SNG/Alinghi for over a year, why would BMWO all of a sudden drop their suit and join? They didn't and here we are.
In the end both sides are to blame for where the AC is. For over a year SNG/Alinghi ignored and insulted BMWO and BMWO stuck to their guns. No give or take from either side. So for some now to say "American's" and "BMWO" is to blame for all of this is wrong.
It takes two to tango and SNG/Alinghi has been BMWO's dance partner in this bulls*** since September '07.
2.06pm- The reason why all of the other teams are pleading with BOR to drop the court action is because to race under the current protocol will be shortest route to the next AC.
If this thing goes to a multihull show down, Alinghi will drag the time frame out for more than another year (which they can), so they can learn to use their boat. If BOR agree to drop the court action it could be possible to have a multichallenger event around the same time that the DOG match would be held.
So, when posting comments about the other teams wanting BOR to drop the suit, understand the reasons why. It is'nt because the current protocol is good. It is because the other options are far worse for them and their sponsorship.
"So, when posting comments about the other teams wanting BOR to drop the suit, understand the reasons why. It is'nt because the current protocol is good. It is because the other options are far worse for them and their sponsorship."
And that is the problem we are faced right now. Whats more important? Making sure the Deed is followed and not abused, or making sure ANY event takes place as soon as possible to ensure sponsorship money is available?
The AC isn't a cash cow no matter what SNG/Alinghi, and friends, say or try to do. If you want a steady paycheck get on a MedCup team.
Post a Comment
<< Home