Saturday, 28 July 2007

Snuffed Out

It’s almost as though they’re doing it deliberately. Oracle and the Golden Gate Yacht Club, that is… I barely manage to get a blog up before they move another chess piece and change the dynamics of the game again. This is the third week on the trot that it’s happened, or maybe they just have their lawyers working on this stuff the same day that I post.

Anyway, barely had I typed the words… If there is a glimmer of light, it’s that the newly set-up Arbitration Panel will start to consider the case of Oracle’s second Challenge and court action… than the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) come up with a letter from their lawyers to the head of the aforementioned Arbitration Panel, Professor Henry Peter.

It’s not, shall we say, written in the language of someone who intends to arbitrate anything anytime soon. In fact, it claims that the processes set up for the arbitration in Alinghi’s Protocol, ‘violate the most basic principles of justice and independence common to all legitimate adjudicatory bodies and are an affront to the most basic sensibilities common to all law abiding people.’

Right. So see you all in court, then.

The basis of the GGYC’s view seems to be (and I’m no lawyer, you really should follow the link and make your own mind up) that Alinghi’s control of the Arbitration Panel means it’s nothing more than a ‘Kangaroo Court’ (GGYC’s words, not mine), that the referral of the case artificially sets Challenger of Record, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela (CNEV), against Alinghi, when they’re actually on the same side (rather than GGYC against the pair of them) and that the only court that has jurisdiction in this matter is the New York State Supreme Court.

Oh boy.

The only good thing I can say about it all is that at least these things are being rattled out with sufficient pace that the whole thing might be over soon and we can get back to the sailing.

My thanks to Rex Gilfillan for the heads up on the GGYC’s letter - in my latest learning-to-blog-lesson I’ve managed to change the Comments button so anyone can post (and not just those with Google passwords) – but if you want to send me some news, gossip or opinion directly, then click here. And now I’m going to go away and try and figure out how to put up a list of links. I may be some time...

www.markchisnell.com

Mark Chisnell ©
Posted by Mark Chisnell at 16:19
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2 comments:

Devon Ellington said...

I'm not surprised that it's in the NYC courts, since that's where the Deed of Gift originates.

However, if one really wanted to pick nits, the original cup should never have been deeded there in the first place, since, according to the histories I've read, basically THE AMERICA sailed off with it instead of passing it back to the original Yacht Club in the UK.

This whole thing reminds me a lot of the early histories I've read about the races and all the infighting that went on.

I'd be worried too, that an arbitration panel chosen by the defender is not the most objective, but I'm not sure it's worth going to all this lawyerly sturm and drung over it, since the lawyers are the only ones who will really come out on top, here, with lots of cash.

It must be especially frustrating to sailors, because they want to be out there preparing, and to hell with all this court stuff.

It seems to me, from my outsider perspective, that there needs to be an overseeing body to the Challenge that is not "appointed" by defender or challenger. Don't know if it would work to have people who sailed over the last twenty years vote on it or not, but it would be nice if there was some sort of objectivity instead of the traditional "the defender gets to make all the rules".

Glad I can finally comment.

Thank God tomorrow is the last day of ESG. Next time, I cover ONE sport, not spread myself out amongst women's hockey, fencing, archery, diving, women's lacrosse, and attempts at men's hockey, sailing, and rowing. I've been spread a little too thin.

28 July 2007 22:57
Anonymous said...

Go on Chis - tell it like it is – Bern-esto Bertarelli and Bread Butteredworth’s raid on the cup is so far not that good for “The Brand”. Shame of all this is if that if they could just be happy with the ACM business and not attempt to fit it up so that they also “walk the cup” they might just get away with it?

Given current attitudes a trip to New York will be the
order of the day for Hamish Ross and Michel Hodara (Joder-ya?). You'd
have to think that if it gets that far then the CNEV Challenge won't bear
scrutiny. Not a lawyer myself but I would have thought that by
Anglo-American standards the intention of the deed is clear (i.e. A yacht
club of "standing") and anyway if it comes down to quibbling then isn't
it implicit that annual entails two regattas separated by 12 months - you're
the wordsmith whadda you reckon?

Perhaps the real problem here is that most of those involved suffer from “English as a second language” ? Should be an interesting return to Naval warfare for the Spanish as the last time they tried an action in (subsequently) American waters it was headed up by a bloke called Cervera and the remains can be found on the bottom of Habana harbour !

It is further surprising to what degree none of these people have deigned to consult before they tore down the walls with this new class proposal. The last time yachting went through a similar process the timing was something like :

September 88 Mismatch
October through December 88 legal wrangle
New rule proceedings and publication
Autumn 89 Build contracts appointed
Six to eight months later the Frogs launched a boat (March 1990??) - probably earlier - and I seem to recall Il Moro being launched sometime in the Summer of 1990

At any rate the point is that about eighteen months after the legal wrangle we
are talking about most “normal “syndicates having a boat hit the water if
the rules require a committee to write them again.

Given that the impending legal wrangle will kick off in September and finish in December soonest - I guess - the earliest you could expect to have a new rule design launched using that template is July 2009 - the date of the Cup ???

Unless of course Alinghi win the court case.

So I guess then you have to punt for that option and have a design team hired and ready to roll October 15 (latest “concession” date to Challengers). Also keep a sailing team active on the match race circuit and maybe cover the version 5 base with a bit of sailing in the old shitters.When you are three months into it you get to know the results of the court action which gives three possible outcomes:

1) Alinghi successful - new rule stands - keep going and complete design
to hand over to a builder in March (latest) for Boat1 build which launches
September 2008 (earliest). Kiwis and Alinghi probably beat this by a
couple of months. Not a good scenario for first timers?

2) Alinghi loses and cup reverts to IACC format. Stop and re-deploy
resources to IACC activities - no great stumble as probably all you have to do is
plan for a couple of show regattas plus end of Summer re-build of your boat
plus new design development for November design delivery and April 2009 launch.
Activities related to new rule go on back burner for big POW WOW to be
held on issue after 2009 cup.

3) Alinghi loses and Cup raced in Multihulls.STOP everything. FIRE Designers. FIRE Builders. BOOK TIME at 3DL. RETAIN Seamstresses. RETAIN Sailors. RETAIN Shoreteam. RETAIN Admin and PR/Media sales staff. Get ready to purchase Coutts/Cayard One design Catamaran and join WSL - ‘cos that's where the audience heads that can no longer determine exactly what the Americas Cup was.

Now just who is advising Larry Ellison these days??????

Happy Days

M.Usher

10 August 2007 14:56

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