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Tom Ehman, GGYC Spokesman:
Tonight GGYC filed its response to Société
Nautique de Genève’s (SNG) submissions to the New York Supreme
Court of last week.
There are two important questions before the
Court: In an America’s Cup “Deed of Gift match,” must the sails
of competitors’ yachts be constructed in the country they
represent? Were Alinghi’s sails constructed in Switzerland? GGYC
believes the answers are clear: yes, sails must be
constructed-in-country; and, no, Alinghi’s sails were constructed
in the USA, not Switzerland.
Last week SNG let go an avalanche of papers to
obscure these simple questions. The Swiss defender has long
appeared to be suffering from snowblindness over the fact that
the 33rd Match is not a normal regatta. It is not even a
normal America’s Cup. It is a “Deed of Gift match” in which
the clear wording of the Cup’s ruling document must be adhered to
by both teams.
Highlights of GGYC’s briefs filed tonight (and
available in full at
www.ggyc.com):
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The Deed of Gift does not say that
only the hull of the defender’s vessel must be
constructed in the defender’s country. Neither
does it carve out an exemption for the vessel’s sails –
the component that propels the boat and one of the
major determinants of a vessel’s competitiveness.
Nor does it say that yachts may be constructed in
pieces abroad so long as they are “assembled” or
“finished” in country. This fundamental part of
the Deed of Gift has shaped the character of this great
sailing competition for nearly 130 years.
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GGYC went to extraordinary efforts to
comply with the Deed of Gift’s constructed-in-country
provision.
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This is not a complex issue to
resolve. It rests on three simple propositions:
(1) the Deed of Gift requires that the defender’s
“yacht or vessel” be constructed in the defender’s
country, (2) sails are part of a yacht or vessel, and
(3) SNG has admitted that its sails were custom-made in
pieces in Nevada. All that is required is an
application of a plain and unambiguous provision of the
Deed of Gift to admitted facts.
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In a transparent attempt to distract
the Court from its own blatant violation of the Deed of
Gift’s constructed-in-country requirement, SNG has
brought a baseless cross-motion against GGYC seeking –
once again – to disqualify GGYC’s challenge vessel.
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GGYC is not seeking to delay the
race; it is ready and eager to begin the match on
February 8. It is not trying to disqualify SNG’s
yacht; that is why it is seeking to have this issue
resolved now, before the race. SNG has rejected
every attempt by GGYC to reach mutual consent on
constructed-in-country and other issues, most recently
at a meeting in Singapore on 12 January. An
agreement was negotiated between SNG and GGYC
representatives. It was signed by GGYC and the
International Sailing Federation (the world governing
body), only to be rejected by SNG/Alinghi.
Alinghi’s constructed-in-country violation is
yet another example of SNG’s reckless disregard for the Deed of
Gift, and of their repeated attempts to gain an advantage by
shamelessly breaking the rules.
GGYC hopes the Court will resolve this issue
next week, before racing for the 33rd Match starts in Valencia on
8 February.
Affidavits and Exhibits (all pdf format):
John Marshall (sail construction),
William Koch (historical practice),
Russell Coutts,
Mike Drummond,
Mark Turner,
Craig Phillips,
Frank Albina
W. H. Dyer Jones
Jean Baptiste Le Vaillant
Original pdf version of Press Release
Additional Links and Info:
These documents from GGYC are in response to these
documents and affidavits from SNG.
The SNG Documents in turn are in response to
these
documents from GGYC.
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