International jury backs America's Cup challengers
Source: AFP |
July 13, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TENSIONS in the troubled America's Cup may be easing after an international jury sided with challengers from New Zealand and Italy in their arguments that regatta director Iain Murray overstepped his authority in making rules changes after the fatal capsize of a third challenger's catamaran two months ago.
One promising sign was that Italy's Luna Rossa ended its boycott and sailed its 72-foot catamaran alone around the course on San Francisco Bay to collect its first point of the Louis Vuitton Cup for challengers.
Luna Rossa's scheduled opponent, Sweden's Artemis Racing, remains a no-show while it works to get its second boat up to speed following the capsize on May 9 that killed Andrew Simpson and destroyed its first boat.
Simpson's death led Murray to make 37 safety recommendations. Among them was a highly technical change to the winglets on the rudders of the fast, space-age boats. The New Zealanders and Italians protested, saying the changes were more about performance than safety.
The syndicates said their boats were designed and built under the old rules and they didn't have time to build new rudders and, perhaps more importantly, test them. They also said they felt the change gave an advantage to defending champion Oracle Team USA, which doesn't have to race until the start of the 34th America's Cup on September 7.
The jury ruled that a regatta notice issued by Murray had the effect of changing the AC72 Class Rule and was not in accordance with the protocol. Murray was ordered to withdraw that notice.
One promising sign was that Italy's Luna Rossa ended its boycott and sailed its 72-foot catamaran alone around the course on San Francisco Bay to collect its first point of the Louis Vuitton Cup for challengers.
Luna Rossa's scheduled opponent, Sweden's Artemis Racing, remains a no-show while it works to get its second boat up to speed following the capsize on May 9 that killed Andrew Simpson and destroyed its first boat.
Simpson's death led Murray to make 37 safety recommendations. Among them was a highly technical change to the winglets on the rudders of the fast, space-age boats. The New Zealanders and Italians protested, saying the changes were more about performance than safety.
The syndicates said their boats were designed and built under the old rules and they didn't have time to build new rudders and, perhaps more importantly, test them. They also said they felt the change gave an advantage to defending champion Oracle Team USA, which doesn't have to race until the start of the 34th America's Cup on September 7.
The jury ruled that a regatta notice issued by Murray had the effect of changing the AC72 Class Rule and was not in accordance with the protocol. Murray was ordered to withdraw that notice.
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