A Matter of Rules

Following on from yesterday’s look at the ten syndicates within the America’s Cup, we are now going to look at something that has been one of the major controversies within the history of the Cup.

The Rules.

The Deed of Gift
www.lvcup.com/sitedata/TheDeedofGift.pdf

The America’s Cup competition was initially created by a very simple legal document given to the New York Yacht Club, along with the 100 Guineas Cup, as a perpetual trophy. Known as The Deed of Gift it was established by the last remaining owner of the original winner of the cup, the schooner America, and set out to promote, “friendly competition between nations” according to its third paragraph.

It may seem odd that this single document has governed competition for what is the oldest trophy in sport, and indeed interpretation of it’s meaning has been called into question on several occasions, not least during the big boat challenge in 1987 during which the sailing became a footnote to the legal wrangling in the Supreme Court of the USA.

Prior to that, during Australia’s historic win over USA in 1983, the American syndicate challenged the legality of the “wings” on the bottom of Australia II’s keel. It was not that the wings themselves were considered illegal, but the fact that it was thought Ben Lexcen (AUS) did not design them but they were in fact designed by a Dutch designer during Australia II’s tank testing in The Netherlands. The deed of gift states that a yacht must be “constructed in the country to which the Challenging Club belongs.”, which has universally been interpreted as “designed and built”, and if this were the case, then the wings would have to be removed. As it was, public opinion forced the New York Yacht Club to withdraw the protest, and the rest is history.

The Deed of gift has been amended twice throughout its history, once following the second world war to allow the racing of the smaller 12 metre class, and secondly in 1985 to allow racing to happen between 1 November and 31 May in the southern hemisphere. This followed Australia’s win over USA in 1983.

What is universally agreed amongst all modern America’s Cup Syndicates is that the Deed of Gift is the ultimate law when it comes to the competition. Whatever protocols, rules and regulations are established, it all comes down to interpretation of the original deed.

Protocol
www.lvcup.com/sitedata/AmericasCupXXXIPROTOCOL.pdf

The XXXI America’s Cup Protocol is established as a second tier of rules underneath the Deed of Gift. It is covered in the deed by way of setting out in writing the form of “mutual consent” between which the challenger of record and defender must agree.

The current protocol document was established and agreed between the defender (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) and the Challenger of Record Management (CORM) on 2 March 2000. It establishes the rules governing such things as the acceptance of challenges, race conditions, the racing format of the challenger series and most importantly, acceptance of the ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing.

www.sailing.org/rrs2001

On the water, the racing of each match between syndicates is governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing 2001-2004, especially RRS Appendix C, the Match Racing Rules, as agreed by the defender and CORM in the protocol. Up until 1992, all racing was self policed, meaning any infringement or protest was dealt with in lengthy protest meetings on shore after the racing.

In 1992, the first year of the modern International America’s Cup Class (IACC), umpiring was done on the water by ISAF International Judges and Umpires. This meant decisions on infringements and protests could be handled almost instantly and the final result of the race was the order that the boats crossed the finish line.

On-water umpiring has developed in all forms of match and team racing over the last ten years and as such in this XXXI America’s Cup, there is a team of 17 ISAF International Umpires and Judges, from 10 different nations watching over every individual match.

All members of the Jury are independent ISAF International Judges and Umpires and have a vast knowledge of match racing rules and experience between them. Umpiring potentially almost 175 individual races, all eyes will be on their decisions, and every syndicate will look to them to in some cases, to either make or break a race.

Chairing this team of 17 members of the International Jury and acting as chief umpire is Brian Willis (GBR). Brian, who has been appointed by ISAF in agreement with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and CORM, is a member of the ISAF Racing Rules Committee and most recently chaired the International Jury in the Volvo Ocean Race. Brian has been involved in the America’s Cup since 1980, and was Chairman of the International Jury in the 1999/2000 event.

When the Louis Vuitton Cup begins on 1 October, all the rules within the event will be well known by every syndicate, every sailor, and every umpire. Every sailor and syndicate will try to push these as far as possible, and every umpire will stop them pushing things too far. One thing is for sure, the racing will be close.