No plain sailing for the AC

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Photgraphed by Alinghi/Ivo Rovira

Claiming that their future challenge is irreparably harmed by the Swiss decision to re write the America's Cup rules, Larry Ellison's mighty, BMW-backed, Oracle Racing Team is threatening to put the Swiss on ten months notice and race the next America's Cup under the provision of the original Deed of Gift. This ploy was successfully undertaken in 1988 when an eagle eyed lawyer, representing Kiwi America's Cup challenger, Michael Fay, actually read the hallowed document and realized that in its closely typed one and half pages of A4 there was a hole in the protocol that meant you could sail, unchallenged, a 40 metre or so sailing boat. What's more you only needed to give the defender ten months notice of the arrival of your challenger. If they couldn't defend it on the water they simply forfeited the America's Cup.

Faced with this spiritual hijacking of the cup in 1988, San Diego Yacht Club was at a complete loss until Team Dennis Conner, taking equal note of the fine print, realised he could build a catamaran within the rules and so respond to the challenge. He did, quite rightly, and repulsed the New Zealanders. Now we have the prospect of a repeat performance courtesy of Oracle. Oracle plans to threaten the validity of the Swiss rule changes by undermining the position of Spain as the Challenger of Record. It may be just a bargaining position, but the only way they will make it stick is by pressing ahead with the challenge and then having the validity of it judged in court.For what it is worth, Oracle plans to interpret the Deed of Gift to produce a 28 metre waterline-length catamaran. Maybe it should give Dennis Conner a call as his team has already produced the fastest match racing cat in history. Knowing Alinghi boss Ernesto's predilection for fast catamarans, maybe he won't mind a single challenge from Oracle and its threatened multihull.

However, it doesn't look as if we are in for a smooth transition from today's rule to tomorrows. As for a multi challenger America's Cup in 2009, forget it. The Swiss have been cooking up plans for months, reasonably secure in the knowledge that they would hold the rights, only unable to determine a challenger of record. You can bet that, despite denials, Valencia was a shoe-in for the hosting city the moment they agreed to sign the revised rule protocol. After 24 years of sponsoring the AC challenger rounds, Louis Vuitton is withdrawing its support, criticising the strong arm tactics of the Swiss, ACM and loss of tradition.

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