[Source: Alinghi] Alinghi, Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup, welcomes one of the world’s most renowned multihull sailors to the team for this campaign: Loïck Peyron. The 50 year old Frenchman has crossed the Atlantic 43 times; 18 single-handed. He has raced around the world twice, holds three Transat titles and two Transat Jacques Vabres: “In every sailor’s mind, the America’s Cup is part of life. I have been following it for many years and now to be working for a team like Alinghi makes me proud,” Peyron said, adding: “There is a tremendous amount of work for sure, but it’s a big challenge. An interesting strength of Alinghi is that it has a lot of knowledge from a lot of areas of the sport: monohulls, offshore sailing, multihulls; especially here in Switzerland. The way the team works is based on team spirit and the method works really well; they have proved it many times. Now like everybody here, I am impatient to go and sail on the lake to see the potential of this amazing machine.”

Brad Butterworth, Alinghi team skipper and four-time America’s Cup winner welcomes Peyron: “We are looking forward to working with Loïck; he brings a lot of multihull experience – from both a design and sailing point of view – to a team that already has quite a bit of depth in this area of our sport. I think he will be an asset to this project and a good addition to the team.”

Sailing career highlights
43 Atlantic crossings; 18 single-handed
2 Round the Worlds
3 Transat ‘Anglaise’ wins, single-handed
2 Transat Jacques Vabre wins
2 Bol d’Or wins

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Related PDF files

- Order to Show Cause, 15 July 2009

- Memorandum of Law, 15 July 2009

- Affirmation of Barry Ostrager, 15 July 2009

The legal feud just goes on and on in the America’s Cup. A mere day after BMW Oracle asked the NY Court to hold Alinghi in contempt for entering into a secret agreement with ISAF to alter the sailing rules of the 33rd America’s Cup match, the Defender counterattacks and files a demand to compel the Americans to “to provide SNG with a Custom House registry of its challenge vessel described in its Notice of Challenge (and launched on August 25, 2008, and relaunched on July 6, 2009) within 14 days, or face disqualification.”

Both cases will be heard in front of Justice Kornreich next Tuesday, July 21, at 10am.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Related PDF files

- Letter from Tom Ehman (Sail America) to Michael Fay, 2 December 1987

- First letter from SNG to GGYC, 26 May 2009

- Second letter from SNG to GGYC, 26 May 2009

[Source: Alinghi] Statement from Alinghi skipper and four-time America’s Cup winner, Brad Butterworth, following the latest BMW Oracle legal actions: “The pending court case is the fourth time BMW Oracle Racing has chosen to go to court rather than meet us on the water and race for the 33rd America’s Cup. If you read the letters of the 2 December 1987 and the 26 May 2009 from the respective Defenders to their Challengers you will see similarities because the template of the 1987 letter was used by the SNG to avoid doubt, particularly as the author of said letter to the Mercury Bay Yacht Club was Tom Ehman, who now represents BMW Oracle. We are complying with the Deed of Gift in everything we do. Let’s not forget that the Deed gives the Defender of the America’s Cup some legitmate rights. Instead of diverting attention with groundless litigation, BMW Oracle should provide their yacht’s Custom House Registry as soon as possible, as required by Deed and Court.”

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Alinghi] America’s Cup Defender, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), statement in reaction to the latest Golden Gate Yacht Club legal action: “It is again a disappointment that the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) chooses to pursue its litigious strategy instead of fighting for the America’s Cup on the water. It is now the fourth time the American team goes to court, this time in an attempt to prevent the SNG’s legitimate right to use its yacht club rules – as prescribed in the Deed of Gift – and the ISAF rules and regulations to their full extent, as it has been the case in previous editions of the America’s Cup and in any international regatta in the world. While GGYC continues to put pressure on the SNG through the New York courts, SNG continues to wait for the GGYC to provide their yacht’s Custom House Registry as soon as possible, as per the Deed of Gift and the New York court decisions.”

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Related PDF files

- Order to Show Cause, 14 July 2009

- Memo of Law, 14 July 2009

- Affidavit of Thomas F. Ehman, Jr, 14 July 2009

- Affidavit of Richard P.F. Slater, 14 July 2009

[Source: BMW Oracle] At Golden Gate Yacht Club’s request, today the Supreme Court of the State of New York issued an order directing the defender, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), to show cause why it should not be held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the America’s Cup Deed of Gift by denying GGYC its rights, as the next America’s Cup challenger of record, as detailed in the Order and Judgment.

Specifically, to date SNG has refused to affirm its sailing regulations and rules to GGYC as required by the Deed. To make matters worse, SNG said that it may change the rules in the future without GGYC’s consent, including the rules governing construction of the competing vessels. Further, it has entered into a secret agreement with the International Sailing Federation (“ISAF”), the organization which will have a central role in selecting match officials and sailing jury.

“Once again, Alinghi seems to believe the Deed and other rules do not apply to them,” said GGYC spokesman Tom Ehman. “As we said in our court brief today, the prejudice to GGYC is manifest. For example, SNG has proclaimed the intent and authority to construct its competing vessel with engines to trim sails and movable ballast, each now banned by the ISAF rules, and then announce a change in those rules that permits them. In designing its competing vessel, GGYC was compelled to rely on the ISAF rules which prohibit engines and movable ballast.”

In early April the New York State Court of Appeals, in a unanimous 6-0 ruling, held that GGYC is the rightful challenger, and that the next match would be in early February 2010.

The Deed of Gift provides that the Cup match “shall be sailed subject to [the defender’s] rules and sailing regulations so far as the same do not conflict with the provisions of this deed of gift.” The Deed also explicitly provides that the defender’s “rules and sailing regulations” for the match may only be modified through mutual consent of the defender and challenger.

At the time of GGYC’s challenge on July 11, 2007, SNG’s “rules and sailing regulations” were those of the International Sailing Federation (“ISAF”), including the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing (“RRS”) that then and now govern major sailing events. These rules apply “so far as the same do not conflict with the provisions” of the Deed.

However, by letter to GGYC dated April 23, 2009, SNG for the first time claimed the right to change the rules for the match at anytime without mutual consent.

But SNG did not stop there. An ISAF Executive Committee member has acknowledged that on June 5, 2009, SNG (or its racing team Alinghi) paid ISAF €150,000 pursuant to a secret agreement making certain arrangements concerning ISAF’s role in, and the “rules and sailing regulations” for, the next Cup match.

Neither ISAF nor SNG/Alinghi will disclose the secret agreement to GGYC. Especially in light of ISAF’s central role in selecting the match officials and sailing jury, such collusive secrecy is unacceptable and violates SNG’s fiduciary duty to GGYC as the challenger of record and trust beneficiary.

The court scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, July 21 at 10 a.m.

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Alinghi 5 designer talk about the catamaran. Video copyright Alinghi

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Alinghi 5 designers talk about the catamaran. Video copyright Alinghi

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

The 33rd America’s Cup is getting closer. Less than 48 hours after she was airlifted from the boatyard to her new temporary base on the banks of Lake Geneva, Alinghi 5 was masted on Friday afternoon.

Alinghi 5 is masted. Le Bouveret, 10 July 2009. Photo copyright Alinghi

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Related PDF files

- GGYC replies to SNG letter, 8 July 2009

July 8, 2009

Mr Fred Meyer
Vice-Commodore
Chairman, SNG’s America’s Cup Committee
Société Nautique de Genève
Port Noir
CH-1223 Cologny
SWITZERLAND

Dear Vice-Commodore Meyer,

We write in response to your letter of July 6, 2009

Let us again reiterate, the Deed and the Order and Judgement are clear that you may not select a Northern Hemisphere venue, other than Valencia, without our mutual consent. Justice Kornreich’s May 14th order contains nothing that even suggests, let alone “stated”, otherwise. To the contrary, Justice Kornreich ordered “SNG to hold the race as per the order of the Court of Appeals and Justice Cahn in February as the order required.”

As further proof that our reading of the Deed and the Judgement and order is correct, you agreed with it when light and truth were original to you. In your May 11, 2009, court papers you agreed that “the Deed of Gift unambiguously prohibits sailing a match between November 1 and May 1 in the Northern Hemisphere… There is nothing in the order that suggests that a race should be held in contravention of the terms of the the Deed of Gift.”

What is more, during the May 14th hearing when your attorney attempted an about face by asserting that SNG has the right to select a Northern Hemisphere venue other than Valencia without our consent, Justice Kornreich stated that “that’s not what the Court of Appeals said”.

Your letter also again fails to respond to the inescapable conclusion that the Deed and the Order and Judgement my be read harmoniously, giving force and effect to the terms of each, requiring a February race in Valencia or any other Southern Hemisphere location selected by SNG, unless otherwise consented to by GGYC. There is therefore no basis to conclude that the phrase “any other location” in the Order and Judgement intended to alter the Deed of Gift’s Northern Hemisphere restriction; just as there is no basis to conclude that this phrase intended to alter the Deed’s requirement to select a location free of headlands or a location that has an ocean water course.

You also misconstrue Justice Kornreich’s order and the Deed when you assert that they require GGYC’s Custom House Registry to “conform exactly” to GGYC’s challenge certificate. To the contrary, the Deed is unambiguous that the dimensions provided on a challenge certificate “shall no be exceeded”. Justice Kornreich’s order is entirely consist with the Deed and the Order and Judgement; and you are simply wrong in your repeated assertions that Justice Kornreich’s order in any way contravened the terms of the Deed or the mandate of the Court of Appeals.

Sincerely,

GOLDEN GATE YACHT CLUB

Marcus Young
Commodore

cc: Ernesto Bertarelli, Team Ainghi
Brad Butterworth, Team Ainghi
Russell Coutts, BMW Oracle Racing
Tom Ehman, BMW Oracle Racing
Larry Ellison, BMW Oracle Racing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

Here is the first footage from today’s launch of Alinghi 5, the catamaran Alinghi will race in order to defend its America’s Cup title. It is really worth watching, especially the footage from the construction of the yacht.

Launch of Alinghi 5, brand new catamaran of the Defender of the 33rd America’s Cup. Villeneuve, 8 July 2009. Video copyright Alinghi

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back