EDITORIAL 34th America's Cup off on the wrong foot.
The America's Cup has always been a hotbed of rumour, intrigue, allegations of behind the scenes dodgy deals and even flat out accusations of cheating. On that basis at least, the opening few days of the 34th America's Cup has been no different to those which have gone before. We had delayed our publication date in an attempt to bring you some indication of the Italian and New Zealand teams' relative form based on their first scheduled encounter.
That didn't happen however, as the Cup quickly became embroiled in a battle of wills which pitted the Kiwis and the Luna Rossa against regatta director Iain Murray over two of the 37 safety recommendations he had attempted to turn into rules following the fatal Artemis Racing crash in May.
That set the tone and this edition must go down as one of the tetchiest beginnings ever to sailing's most prestigious event. Everything had looked good on the opening day - the sun shone and the America's Cup race village at Pier 27 on the San Francisco city front was thronged with a genial mix of smiling Fourth of July locals boosting the city's regular flow of tourists.
The opening ceremony appeared to go off without a hitch, although the decision to theme it around the nationality of the four competing teams was puzzling given their predominantly international lineups. Nevertheless the crowds dutifully packed the AC concert stadium and cheered each crew
July 2013
and their accompanying cultural performers with gusto.
America's Cup Event Authority CEO Stephen Barclay had little time to bask in the warm glow the opening day success however as the very next day the fall out from the 'Ruddergate' protests from Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa, effectively derailed the Summer of Sailing racing schedule.
Italian skipper Max Sirena dropped the biggest bomb at the skippers' press conference on Friday July 5th, when he announced that Luna Rossa planned to sit out the long awaited first match of the Louis Vuitton Series against Emirates Team New Zealand until the international jury had heard their protest.
Sirena denied the move was an attempt to play politics or to put pressure on the jury and regatta director Iain Murray - who Luna Rossa said had acted beyond his remit by changing the AC72 class rules without the unanimous agreement of all four competing teams.
"It just feels unfair and against our own principles," Sirena said. "What has happened today and over the last three weeks is not related to politics - people can say whatever they want - we have come here to race but we want to race with fair rules. And it is not acceptable to change the rules one week before the event. We are not saying we are going to
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