Cup Watch

It SAILS!

by David Schmidt, Posted July 20, 2009

On July 20, some 16 days after unveiling their beast of a defender for the upcoming Deed of Gift (DoG) that will be the next America’s Cup (February 2010), Alinghi today test-sailed their Alinghi 5 for the first time. While quantifiable results are not available yet (or rarely, if ever, on a project like this), the bottom line is that the boat, with its complicated

Alinghi AC33 catamaran hits Lake Geneva

by David Schmidt, Posted July 6, 2009

On July 8 Alinghi 5 arrived on on Lake Geneva via the world's most powerful helicopter, the Russian-built Mil Mi-26, which airlifted the massive cat from its build hanger in Villeneuve, Switzerland to the fabled Swiss lake. The catamaran was unveiled earlier in the month, on July 4th, and will be transported, again by helicopter, to the Med later this month. On

Oracle wins court battle

by Sail Staff, Posted April 30, 2009

When a final-arbiter court in April ruled 6-0 against Alinghi’s artificially inseminated Spanish challenger, the mantle of Challenger of Record for the next America’s Cup match passed to Larry Ellison’s American team, BMW Oracle Racing/Golden Gate Yacht Club. Thus passed two years of wrangling and climbing through the highest courts of New York, where the America’s Cup Deed of Gift was

Second Chance

by Kimball Livingston, Posted April 7, 2009

I see that various pundits are ruminating upon a course of sagacity, wisdom and compromise for our America's Cup antagonists, Misters Bertarelli and Ellison, urging them to come to terms and launch what both profess to be the goal, a match to match 2007.Well and good. I'll believe it when I see it.All Bertarelli had to do, at the end of the 32nd match for the America's

Back to the beginning

by Charles Mason, Posted April 2, 2009

The Court of Appeals, New York state’s highest court, has found that the Spanish yacht club, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela, cannot be the challenger of record for the next America’s Cup match even though it had been given that distinction by Ernesto Bertarelli’s team who sailed for the Societe Nautique de Geneve yacht club of Switzerland, after it had won the last America’s Cup match held off

ACC Racing — in Valencia?

by David Schmidt, Posted November 4, 2008

Is the America’s Cup saved? No. Sadly, the battle of the ego-heavy billionaires continues, with neither side showing any signs of backing down, even though the Socit Nautique de Genve/Alinghi has won an important victory by having Desafo Espaol, Club Nutico Espaol de Vela reinstated as the official challenger of record (BMX/Oracle of course claims that Desafo Espaol, Club Nutico Espaol

Every Card a Wild Card

by Sail Staff, Posted September 10, 2008

By Kimball LivingstonLarry Ellison's would-be America's Cup challenger has been launched, and it's a monster—90 feet long and 90 feet wide and rocket-fast as a giant racing trimaran should be—leaving one question, which only a New York court can answer: Is this a bridge to nowhere? Impressive, regardless, and probably a bit scary at times. We

BMW Oracle Appeals Court Ruling

by Sail Staff, Posted August 3, 2008

A terse statement from BMW Oracle Racing announces the expected appeal of last week's court ruling:Valencia, Spain, 1 August 2008: The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) said today it has lodged an appeal against this week’s decision of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court.“We believe the Challenger of Record has to be a real yacht club. It cannot be something

SHOCKER DECISION IN NY COURT

by Sail Staff, Posted July 29, 2008

The New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled 3-2 on Tuesday that Club Nautico Espanol de Vela is the legitimate challenger of record for America's Cup 33. This decision according power to an entity that was gathering dust (did they even bother to pretend to hold an annual regatta this year?) reinstates CNEV's right to negotiate terms of the next competition with the current Cup

Legal Headaches

by Sail Staff, Posted April 15, 2008

Am I the only one who gets a headache when I hear the words “America’s Cup” coupled with the word “court”? I highly doubt it, especially given the massive success that was the 32nd Cup, and the resounding flop that has thus far been the experience of the 33rd Cup’s pre-dance ritual. Today’s head banger is compliments of the Socit Nautique de Genve (SNG) and Alinghi, who proposed