America's Cup (33rd edition)
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The protocols for the 33rd America's Cup were released on July 5, 2007. The protocol agreed to with Club Náutico Español de Vela, the Challenger of Record, will feature boats of 90 feet in length and crews of up to 20. The 33rd America's Cup is scheduled to be held in the Mediterranean city of Valencia and it was intended to take place in May - July 2009 [1].
The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), on behalf of BMWOracle racing, has lodged a complaint against the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) in New York Supreme Court, New York County pleading violations of the Deed of Gift (the deed specifies the NY Supreme Court is the arbiter of last resort). The suit alleges that the Spanish club does not meet the terms of the Deed of Gift as a legitimate yacht club that would qualify to be the Challenger of Record[2].
SNG asked an arbitration panel, established under the protocol for the 33rd AC, and appointed by ther defender, to evaluate the validity of CNEV challenge. GGYC was invited to join the arbitration but declined stating that would grant legitimacy to a process that was not fair to begin with. In the arbitration under the protocol SNG/Alinghi have broad rights to name the arbiters that oversee hearings, and also the ability to remove them. The arbitration panel ruled in Alinghi's favor, though they also took issue with the terms under which panel members are appointed or replaced.
GGYC served SNG with papers in regards to the NY litigation on Aug 17, 2007. It was initially expected that a decision would be made in September 2007, with hopes of a quick resolution. On 3rd October 2007, AC Management (ACM) announced that as a consequence of the uncertainty and the delays arising from the GGYC law suit, it may become unfeasible to organising the next America’s Cup in Valencia in 2009, and they would engage in consultations with the Defender, the Challenger of Record, the Competitors and the Spanish Authorities to consider various options, including the possibility of postponing the event. Negotiations took place in October and November, and were believed to be reaching an acceptable set of terms when Alinghi suddenly walked away from the efforts, citing requests from BMW Oracle that they felt were beyond the original scope of the discussions. BMW Oracle countered that these were simply in response to additional rules the defender had publicly issued during the negotiation process.
On November 22, 2007, SNG canceled the 2009 defense [1].
On November 27, 2007, GGYC won the NY court case against the SNG, finding that CNEV was not a valid challenger, and that their challenge did not stand. GGYC was declared the proper and legal challenger, and SNG was instructed to meet their challenge under the Deed of Gift terms unless they could mutually agree on other terms. [2] The immediate effect of this is that GGYC’s first preferences would be to
1. Seek to agree rules with all competitors along the lines of the October 17 “nine points” compromise proposal and race a conventional America’s Cup competition in Valencia in 2009.
2. If a Deed of Gift challenge went ahead, the club would seek to race under the AC90 monohull rule already published. If Alinghi did not agree to that, in multi-hulls.
3. In all scenarios, GGYC would seek by mutual consent to have a Challenger Selection Series with as many challengers as possible. [3]
Alinghi had already promised publicly that they would not seek an appeal of the case for purposes of causing additional delay, though CNEV as a party to the lawsuit retains that option themselves.
On December 7, Ernesto Bertarelli issued a statement about his vision for the America's Cup, calling for the Deed of Gift and much of the conduct of the historic event to be changed, and threatening that if the changes he sought weren't granted that Deed of Gift defense in catamarans between Alinghi and BMW Oracle was the only other response he was willing to participate in. Reaction in the America's Cup community to those statements has been profoundly negative.
SNG accepted challenge applications from the following teams before their agreement with CNEV was ruled invalid. With the protocol for the 33rd Defense no longer in force, these teams have no official standing, but may still have an interest in future regattas if they eventually do take place:
| Team | Club | Nation |
|---|---|---|
| Desafío Español 2009 | Club Náutico Español de Vela |  Spain |
| Team Shosholoza | Royal Cape Yacht Club |  South Africa |
| Team Origin | Royal Thames Yacht Club |  United Kingdom |
| Team New Zealand | Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron |  New Zealand |
| United Internet Team Germany | Deutscher Challenger Yacht Club |  Germany |
| Ayre Challenge | Real Club Náutico de Denia | Spain |
