America's Cup (33rd edition)

If the July 29, 2008 court decision stands, the 33rd America's Cup will occur sometime after May 29, 2009. The challenger of record is Club Náutico Español de Vela and the races may be held in Valencia, Spain, the same location as the 2007 America's Cup. However, legal disputes may well continue and there is no certainty as to the date and venue of the race.

Controversy

Following the successful defense of the cup on 2007-07-03, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) released the protocols for the 33rd America's Cup on July 5, 2007. The protocol was with Club Náutico Español de Vela, as the Challenger of Record.

Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) was a newly formed yacht club, created for the purpose of challenging the cup and with only a handful of members, themselves all vice presidents of the Spanish Sailing Federation [ [http://valenciasailing.blogspot.com/2007/10/can-one-become-member-of-club-nautico.html Valencia Sailing: Can one become member of the Club Náutico Español de Vela?] ] . The club had never previously run an annual regata.

The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), on behalf of BMW ORACLE Racing, lodged a complaint against the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) in New York Supreme Court, New York County pleading violations of the Deed of Gift (the deed specifies the NY Supreme Court is the arbiter of last resort). The suit alleged that the Spanish club does not meet the terms of the Deed of Gift as a legitimate yacht club that would qualify to be the Challenger of Record [http://www.ggyc.org/Verified_Complaint.PDF GGYC Complaint Against SNG] ] . At the same time, GGYC issued a challenge for the cup specifying their yacht as having a 90-ft. length-waterline, and 90-ft. beam.

GGYC served SNG with papers in regards to the NY litigation on Aug 17, 2007. On November 27, 2007, GGYC won the NY court case against the SNG, finding that CNEV was not a valid challenger, and declaring GGYC the proper and legal challenger. SNG was instructed to meet their challenge under the Deed of Gift terms unless they could mutually agree on other terms.

SNG subsequently filed a motion to renew and reargue, and on 2008-03-17 Justice Cahn denied SNG's motion and entered a final order [ [http://www.ggyc.com/March%2017,%202008.pdf Disposition of Motion and Final Order] ] declaring CNEV’s challenge invalid and Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) the Challenger of Record.

SNG appealed the final order to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, First Department in Manhattan. On July 29, 2008, A split Appellate Division, First Department, has voted 3-2 to reverse Justice Cahn on the law and reinstated the now teamless Club Nautico Español de Vela (CNEV) as Challenger of Record.http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/cf/#p27

The GGYC is seeking legal advice and has the right to appeal the decision.

References

External Links

* [http://33rd.americascup.com/en/ Official Website of the 33rd America's Cup]
* [http://bmworacleracing.com BMW ORACLE Racing]