Suspense in the Cup
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Last November 27th, the New York court ruling over the Oracle-Alinghi conflict ruled against the Swiss and gave a favorable ruling the Americans. The 33rd Americica's Cup Protocol is no longer valid and Alinghi must now define the parameters of the next edition with Oracle, who has become effectively the next Challenger of Record.
La Coupe@ACM 2007
The Cup has come to a standstill and the whole world waits to know what will happen. The next edition will take place in...2008-2009-2010-2011 ? In mult-hulls, mono-hulls? Will it be in a duel between Alinghi against Oracle or following a conventional format inviting other Challengers? Mystery and frustration, it has been going on for almost 6 months now, but being optimistic, we can now say it will only be question of a few days !
A quick recap of events: Since Alinghi’s victory and the publication of the 33rd America’s Cup Protocol published July 5th; it has been a war between the Swiss Defender and the BMW Oracle Racing Team. The Americans criticize the Swiss for having written a customized Protocol, signed with a complacent Challenger of Record, a Yacht Club created expressly by the Desafio Espanol, a protocol which allowed monopolizing the organizational rights.
The Americans, are as used to legal maneuvers as going around buoys, threw themselves into the fight: by surprise, they lodged their own Challenge which the Swiss are held to accept, being forced to set aside the Challenge by Spanish which has been ruled invalid by law. It is in effect the beauty of the Cup… the winner is obliged to accept the first valid challenge as decreed in the Deed of Gift, the founding document of the trophy. It is "a perpetual trophy between Nations".To complicate the subject, the Americans defeated in the Semi-finals of the 32nd Cup, several weeks beforehand, challenged the Swiss to a duel in giant 90 foot catamarans scheduled for July of 2008. Leave by a small window, but return through the front door.
Oracle, refused by the Swiss, turned to the New York Supreme Court, the legal authority concerning the Deed of Gift. The future of the Cup in now in the hands of the judge, who rules in favor of the American team on November 27th.
Therefore there are three options:
Option 1/ The most probable, and the solution by default: the 33rd edition will take place within the terms given by the American Challenge lodged in July of 2007. It will be an Alinghi-Oracle duel in 90 foot catamarans, slated for July 2008. A private match: the other teams are not invited. They can only wait until the two participants come to agreement over the terms of the 34th edition. It would be in Valencia in 2011. Alinghi remains mute on the subject.
To get out of this default situation, Alinghi the Defender, and Oracle the Challenger of Record, must come to agreement on another scenario…(which would be news in itself). Two possibilities are foreseeable:
Option 2/ The return to a 2009 scenario. The 33rd Cup would take place as initially previewed with the Protocol modified to take into account the objections raised by Oracle. Problem: the 2009 scenario was already tight, in timing, when it was announced in July by a triumphant Alinghi… it is tighter even more so in December 2007, especially with an Alinghi reluctant to restart the organizational machine.
Option 3/ An agreement on a classic scenario delayed in timing... to 2010 or more likely 2011 thus avoiding a conflict with the football World Cup... A rational scenario but it is understood that the reason is not primordial. It is also an unlikely scenario because the money spending machine at Oracle is in gear and we can easily imagine that at a certain stage, even Larry Ellison doesn't like the idea of adding zeros on to the price tag.
For right now, we wait. The two syndicates must renew their dialog…a tenuous situation: it is Russel Coutts, the new CEO of BMW Oracle Racing, who will be in discussions with Brad Butterworth, vice-President of Alinghi, a fellow countryman and former tactician dating back the days of Team New Zealand when the two sailed to double victories with Peter Blake. The Spirit of the Cup, are you there?
Fdb/Lh December 4th 2007
A quick recap of events: Since Alinghi’s victory and the publication of the 33rd America’s Cup Protocol published July 5th; it has been a war between the Swiss Defender and the BMW Oracle Racing Team. The Americans criticize the Swiss for having written a customized Protocol, signed with a complacent Challenger of Record, a Yacht Club created expressly by the Desafio Espanol, a protocol which allowed monopolizing the organizational rights.
The Americans, are as used to legal maneuvers as going around buoys, threw themselves into the fight: by surprise, they lodged their own Challenge which the Swiss are held to accept, being forced to set aside the Challenge by Spanish which has been ruled invalid by law. It is in effect the beauty of the Cup… the winner is obliged to accept the first valid challenge as decreed in the Deed of Gift, the founding document of the trophy. It is "a perpetual trophy between Nations".To complicate the subject, the Americans defeated in the Semi-finals of the 32nd Cup, several weeks beforehand, challenged the Swiss to a duel in giant 90 foot catamarans scheduled for July of 2008. Leave by a small window, but return through the front door.
Oracle, refused by the Swiss, turned to the New York Supreme Court, the legal authority concerning the Deed of Gift. The future of the Cup in now in the hands of the judge, who rules in favor of the American team on November 27th.
Therefore there are three options:
Option 1/ The most probable, and the solution by default: the 33rd edition will take place within the terms given by the American Challenge lodged in July of 2007. It will be an Alinghi-Oracle duel in 90 foot catamarans, slated for July 2008. A private match: the other teams are not invited. They can only wait until the two participants come to agreement over the terms of the 34th edition. It would be in Valencia in 2011. Alinghi remains mute on the subject.
To get out of this default situation, Alinghi the Defender, and Oracle the Challenger of Record, must come to agreement on another scenario…(which would be news in itself). Two possibilities are foreseeable:
Option 2/ The return to a 2009 scenario. The 33rd Cup would take place as initially previewed with the Protocol modified to take into account the objections raised by Oracle. Problem: the 2009 scenario was already tight, in timing, when it was announced in July by a triumphant Alinghi… it is tighter even more so in December 2007, especially with an Alinghi reluctant to restart the organizational machine.
Option 3/ An agreement on a classic scenario delayed in timing... to 2010 or more likely 2011 thus avoiding a conflict with the football World Cup... A rational scenario but it is understood that the reason is not primordial. It is also an unlikely scenario because the money spending machine at Oracle is in gear and we can easily imagine that at a certain stage, even Larry Ellison doesn't like the idea of adding zeros on to the price tag.
For right now, we wait. The two syndicates must renew their dialog…a tenuous situation: it is Russel Coutts, the new CEO of BMW Oracle Racing, who will be in discussions with Brad Butterworth, vice-President of Alinghi, a fellow countryman and former tactician dating back the days of Team New Zealand when the two sailed to double victories with Peter Blake. The Spirit of the Cup, are you there?
Fdb/Lh December 4th 2007