Rod Davis
What now?
The Kiwis have flown out of Bermuda with the America’s Cup and the other challengers and the US Defender are still wondering what hit them! The Italians are the new Challenger of Record. But what happens now? The only two teams who refused to drink Russell Coutts’ Kool-Aid, buying into his version
of the America’s Cup, are now making the rules. In fact, the two teams who feel aggrieved from the last Cup now control the next Cup. Interesting but, as I said, where does it all go from here! One of my favourite regatta dinner table conversations involves
‘what should the America’s Cup do about boats?’ ‘What about nationality rules for the sailors?’ I had this dining debate with two different teams in the past couple of weeks – Sled, a TP52, classic monohull with 12-man crew, and Argo, now a top team in foiling GC32 catamaran racing with five crew. The truly interesting thing is that there is a clear consensus when
it comes to the nationality requirement for crew: everyone thinks having Americans sailing the American boat will make for a better event. Among our little sample this came from pro sailors from all corners of the globe. But there is a complete lack of any agreement when it comes
to boats! Monohulls or cats or anything in between… the discussion simply breaks down, drifting into big looping circles. No injection of structure, order or reason can stop this part of
the debate from going round and round in circles… Strange thing is the views, at times passionately put forward, are not aligned with the class a sailor happens to be competing in. Perhaps it’s after a few beers or perhaps everyone feels it’s their time to play devil’s advocate. That, and there is no responsibility for any decision. More anarchy than responsible thought. That is not the case for the new Defender, the Royal New Zealand
Yacht Squadron (represented by Emirates Team New Zealand) and the Challenger of Record, Circolo della Vela Sicilia (represented by Luna Rossa), when it comes to the 36th America’s Cup. The yachting public will over-scrutinise every rule and new boat proposal they come up with. Some big calls that won’t please everyone, but which will be done in the best interest of the America’s Cup. So, in an attempt to shed some light and add a bit of clarity to how the decisions are made for the America’s Cup, grab a beer and
22 SEAHORSE
let’s have a chat. Well, you have a read and think, while I lay out a situation. The America’s Cup is a challenge cup. Your yacht club has the
Cup and my yacht club challenges you to race for it. As holders of the Cup your club has to accept the first challenge you receive, in other words, my challenge. We are now 50/50 partners in making the terms of the challenge. If we agree we can sail in Oppis with pink sails. Technically the AC is ruled by the Deed of Gift held in trust in
New York. It was written by a guy named George Schuyler in 1857, 51 years before Uncle Henry was building Model T cars, and over 60 years before black and white TVs. I mention the time to point out that things have changed and the
use of words has changed along with them. Schuyler is long gone, so we can’t ask him, thus the Defender and Challenger ‘interpret’ the words he used to align them to the modern world, all the while attempting to be true to the Deed of Gift and get their vision of what the Cup ‘should’ be or what they want at the same time. Tricky business, by anyone’s standard. In the past there were three ways this dance between the
Defender (you and your club) and the Challenger (me and my club) have played out. One: by negotiation, albeit sometimes tense negotiation. The
Challenger and Defender on opposite sides of the table, working out the terms of the racing, boats, timing and so on. Once that was done the other challengers would be invited to compete under those terms. Two: similar to number one, but it’s a Harry Houdini Challenger!
This magical Challenger, sometimes called a Puppet Challenge, sits on the same side of the table as the Defender, signs off on what the Defender ‘suggests’ and then disappears. As in the first case, other challengers are invited to compete but under the terms of the Defender and Houdini Challenger. (In both the last two Cups the ‘Challenger’ pulled out after making the terms of the challenge). The third type of challenge is a hostile, or rogue challenge. It is
a case that George anticipated could happen, so he set the default answers for the type of boat, racecourse and timing for the racing of the America’s Cup. 1988 and 2010 are living examples of the Defender and Challenger butting heads so hard they forced the default answers to rule the game. Part and parcel of that is that all other challengers are excluded from participating.
MAX RANCHI
CHRISTOPHE FAVREAU/DPPI
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