Dispute may halt America’s Cup racing
Deeper rudders are at the heart of safety protests, reports Duncan Johnstone. Team New Zealand’s decision to protest over boat-design changes for the forthcoming America’s Cup threatens the event, the regatta’s director says.
Iain Murray says he will call off this year’s America’s Cup if his 37 recommendations aren’t upheld by the International Jury.
New Zealand’s opposition to the changes gained further weight this week with challenger rivals Luna Rossa joining them in an official protest to the jury.
But Murray is convinced that without the change to the rudder elevators the safety of the yachts could be compromised – something that’s unacceptable after the death of Artemis sailor Andrew Simpson on May 9.
‘‘I will have to inform the Coast Guard that the safety plan has not been met, and then discussion will have to take place whether the permit to race stands or it doesn’t stand,’’ Murray said.
‘‘Without a permit to race on San Francisco Bay, there will be no regatta.’’
Murray met the media yesterday to address issues raised in the protests filed by Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Challenge head-on.
Murray said claims that his 37 safety rules were changing the game one week before the regatta are baseless.
‘‘I made these recommendations to the teams on May 22, over six weeks before the first race of the Louis Vuitton Cup,’’ he said.
‘‘At that meeting, all of the teams agreed to all 37 of the safety recommendations. Grant Dalton [managing director of Team New Zealand] walked to the front of the room, shook my hand, and told me, ‘Good job. You won’t get any push back from us’.’’
But last Friday, Team New Zealand filed a protest with the International Jury over the changes. Yesterday afternoon, Luna Rossa Challenge did the same.
Murray said claims that the Italian and Kiwi boats would not measure as AC72s and are thus ineligible to race were false. The official measurers had informed him that both Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand are fully able to comply with the AC72 Class Rule.
‘‘They can race on the first day, Sunday, June 7, with their equipment as
Emirates Team New Zealand sails in the San Francisco Bay during a training session for the America’s Cup. it is now because it already meets the minimum requirements set out in my Safety Rules,’’ he said. ‘‘So this isn’t about teams not being able to comply. This is about two teams trying to gain an advantage from changes I’ve implemented to make all of our racing safer.’’
On the issue that seems to be most contentious to some of the teams – the requirement to have deeper rudders with larger winglets – Murray said: ‘‘This is to give crews more control. The new Safety Rules allows the angle of the rudder winglets to be adjusted up to 5 minutes before a race instead of by 8am on race days.’’ That allows for a more precise setting in the prevailing wind conditions at start time.
‘‘What the teams are protesting about now are features they had previously requested,’’ he claimed.
‘‘Dean Barker, the skipper of Team New Zealand, emailed me in December of last year asking for the period when teams could adjust the rudder elevators [wings] to be extended from when they left the dock in the morning [under the original class rule] until up to the warning signal for racing [as it is now, under the Safety Recommendations],’’ Murray continued. ‘‘He suggested the boat would be safer, and easier to control, if the final adjustment could be made just before the race start.
‘‘When the safety review panel met with the teams in May, all of them acknowledged that deeper rudders, with larger wings, add more control. Luna Rossa Challenge wiped out twice at 36 knots of speed during training because they lost control and rounded up head to wind. More surface area increases control.’’
Speaking to international yachting media at the Team New Zealand base, Dalton voiced concerns that the America’s Cup could become less and less popular in sailing-mad New Zealand ‘‘if these shenanigans keep on going’’.
He has also suggested Team New Zealand will race their boat on Monday with their current rudder setup. They don’t have rudder elevators and making changes now would be too dangerous.