Will Stars+Stripes Sail ETNZ's Boat 1 in the Prada Cup?
Expect an unexpected decision from the AC Arbitration Panel.
Late challenger Stars+Stripes has asked the Arbitration Panel for a ruling to allow S+S to compete in Emirates Team New Zealand's Boat 1 "TE AIHE." The Deed of Gift ("DoG") is clear that S+S may not sail this yacht in the America's Cup Match. But what about the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series? ETNZ'S boss, Grant Dalton, asked about this, has said, disingenuously, "It's a matter for the challengers to work through."
Of course, all this may be moot - there's the small matter of money. Perhaps S+S have found a modern day John Beresford Tipton Jr. To date they have shown no sign of financial resources. And remember that they are still in default on their Entry Fees.
How it could happen
Racing sailors know that it's risky to go into a protest hearing or an AC arbitration - you can get surprising decisions. Here's how the Arbitration Panel could rule in S+S's favor. Rules geeks can read the detailed reasoning, below. The short version: The DoG requires yachts racing in the AC Match to be constructed in the country ("CiC") of their yacht club. But the DoG says nothing about the Challenger Selection Series ("CSS").
The AC36 Protocol does not explicitly say that yachts in the CSS must meet the CiC requirement of the DoG, and the Notice of Race and Conditions ("NOR") for the CSS cites only the Protocol and the AC75 Class Rule, not the DoG, to define eligibility of yachts.
The Protocol anticipates this situation, saying that if the yacht winning the CSS is ineligible to be the Challenger in the Match, then the next highest ranking eligible yacht in the CSS becomes the Challenger for the Match.
Alinghi AC75 foil wings - March 2023
The possible decision and the precedent
The Arbitration Panel could, once again, interpret the rules literally, and decide that S+S may race TE AIHE in the CSS. Remember that in March 2019, the panel interpreted the Protocol literally and ruled that S+S and two other late challengers did not have to pay their Entry Fees by the dates required in the Protocol.
What do the other challengers think?
The challengers are not allowed to comment on the arbitration. We will need to wait for the Arbitration Panel's decision to learn the challengers' reactions.
The details - for rules geeks
The road not taken... by the Arbitration Panel
Why did the Arbitration Panel even accept the application from S+S? The panel might have simply refused it.
S+S is in default on their Entry Fee payments. Until they pay, they lose all their rights as a challenger.
Protocol Article 7. a) "During the period a Challenger is in default, that Challenger may not exercise any of its Challenger rights granted under this Protocol..." (Emphasis mine.) So, how do they have the right to make an application to the Arbitration Panel for a ruling? The panel must have decided that making an application is an inalienable right of being a challenger rather than a right granted by the Protocol.
The EVENT
AC36 includes the ACWS and Christmas Race, the CSS and, of course, the America's Cup Match.
Protocol Article 5 "The Preliminiary Regattas, the CSS and the Match are jointly or indistinctively referred to as the Event or Events, unless otherwise required by the context."
Protocol Article 59 defines the word Events "Events means the regattas that form part of AC36, including the America's Cup World Series, the Christmas Race, the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series and the Match (including in each case and Special Events related thereto), each an Event;" (Emphasis mine.) Each regatta that is part of AC36 is an "Event." Each event can have rules that apply only to it, e.g. NOR, SI's, and... yacht eligibility.
Protocol Article 16 specifies the RULES for AC36 and their order of precedence
- 1the Deed of Gift, and the decisions of the Arbitration Panel
- 2the Protocol
- 3the AC75 Class Rule
- 4the Race Conditions relevant to each regatta including their Sailing Instructions
- 5the racing rules - Racing Rules of Sailing America's Cup Edition (RRSAC)
See Protocol Article 16 for the list of Rules.
Protocol Article 16.2 deals with conflicts between rules: "... Any conflict between the provisions of such documents shall be resolved in favour of the document first listed." (Emphasis mine.) Your editor can find no conflict between the DoG and any of... the Protocol, the AC75 Class Rule, or the Race Conditions for the CSS.
Protocol Article 8 defines Eligibility of Yachts: "Only the yachts complying with the AC75 Class Rule are eligible to compete in the Preliminary Regattas, the Challenger Selection Series and the Match." (Emphasis mine.) Note that there is no reference to the Deed of Gift or CiC.
Protocol Article 9 deals with the CiC requirement of the DoG, but this article says nothing about the CSS, since it deals only with the DoG requirements for the Match.
Article 3.1 of the Race Conditions for the CSS says: "The Protocol and the AC75 Class Rule define the eligibility of Competitors, Yachts and Crew." (Emphasis mine.) Note that it does not include the DoG and says nothing about CiC. There is no conflict with the DoG, since the DoG does not deal with, and did not even anticipate, a CSS.
Protocol Article 3.3 g) specifically deals with the situation of the winning yacht in the CSS being ineligible to race in the Match: "If the winning Yacht Club and its winning yacht are for any reason ineligible to be the final Challenger, then the Challenger Yacht Club and its yacht which gained the next highest place in the series, and which are eligible, and so on, shall become the final Challenger." (Emphasis mine.)
Summary
Conclusion
S+S may sail TE AIHE in the CSS, but not in the America's Cup Match.
Editorial comment: Your editor does not like this decision and thinks the situation is unfair to the three challengers. But it adheres to a strict reading of the rules. You don't have to like the rules, but you must abide by them.
This is a test comment from JJG at 10:01
can i add another comment?
guest visitor wants to leave a comment