Golden Gate YC/BMW Oracle Racing:
Press Release
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Statement on Constructed
in Country Issue Valencia, January 13, 2010 Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW Oracle Racing: Can the Swiss defender race with sails made in the USA? This is the question Golden Gate Yacht Club put to the New York Supreme Court today. GGYC has asked the Court to resolve this following the breakdown of two days of talks in Singapore with the America’s Cup defender Société Nautique de Genève at which mutual agreement was being finalized when negotiations ended. The Singapore meeting followed one last week in Valencia where a previous good faith effort was also made to settle the matter. “Naturally we are disappointed to see the chance of agreement taken away,” commented Coutts. Also at the talks were David Kellett, from the International Sailing Federation’s Executive Committee, and David Tillett, chairman of the International Jury for 33rd Match. Constructed-in-country is not a hypothetical question, but a fundamental one. The Deed of Gift is clear. Without mutual consent and in the absence of other rules, Alinghi, cannot construct sails in the USA and claim they are Swiss-made. The New York Supreme Court has previously ruled on other key issues affecting the yachts of the challenger and defender ahead of the Match; such as whether engines can be used to power the winches and whether rudders are included in the measurement of the yacht’s waterline length. “Once again SNG is showing total disregard for the Deed. First SNG claimed that sails were not part of the yacht. Then it claimed that Alinghi’s sails were built in Switzerland, not the USA. Now, SNG is saying that ‘constructed-in-country’ is not relevant until it announces its yacht for the Match.” GGYC disagrees on all three counts. 2 “Our aim is to make sure that the Deed of Gift is upheld, and that the result of the Match on the water is beyond question,” Coutts said. It is expected that the Court will rule before
the first race scheduled for February 8 in Valencia, Spain. Q & A Constructed-in-Country: What is CIC? Why is CIC important? Are Alinghi’s sails illegal? What is the 3DL process? Why is GGYC going to court? Won’t this delay the Cup? Are you trying to disqualify Alinghi?
Is GGYC still offering time to Alinghi? For additional background, please go to Golden Gate YC web site.
Read the GGYC Memorandum of Law
(pdf) (Jan 13) More "Constructed-in-County" Info: Read Legal Analysis and Alinghi Statement (Jan 13) Read Alinghi Legal Response (Jan 22)
Read GGYC Legal Counter-Response (Jan 27) |
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