33rd America's Cup

[lazeyjack]

here is latest from NZ,
GO TO WWW.NZHERALD.CO.NZ, and look for yachting, there are 4 pages to this story here is first
Grant Dalton doesn't particularly want to be in New York right now, suing one of the world's richest men for tens of millions of dollars. He'd rather go sailing. Or at least get Emirates Team New Zealand ready to go sailing.

Instead, he's spent the past two weeks in secret meetings with high-powered New York lawyers and, when the news of the two law suits broke, wearying hours on the phone giving interviews to news organisations around the world.

The legal broadside from Team New Zealand seems to have caught Alinghi unawares, although Dalton says Bertarelli would be "naively underestimating us" if he didn't expect a reaction.

The irony is not lost on Dalton. While Bertarelli's back was turned, fending off court action by another billionaire, Larry Ellison (Oracle), a little buzzy bee from a far away country darted in and stung him where it hurts.

It is testimony to a tight team that news of what Dalton was up to did not leak out before the two cases were filed in the state and federal courts last week.

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The wider team knew he was up to something, knew he was away. The inner guard knew more. But Dalton wasn't so concerned about leaks.

What worried him more was having to make 25 people he'd worked with for years redundant, in order to preserve dwindling cash reserves. When he signed up for another round after Valencia, he wasn't expecting that.

It is on this subject, and Bertarelli's role in it, that the only hint of bitterness creeps into Dalton's normally level tone.

He doesn't mince words. It is "through the actions of one guy [Bertarelli]" that he had to tell those people they were out of a job, and to further reduce the hours of other staff. In the quiet of the boardroom at Team New Zealand's Viaduct headquarters, before heading to New York, his words weigh heavily.

"The tragedy of it is that no one deserved it. They're all fantastic people, all great contributors." Some had been with Team New Zealand since 1992.

"They're not just people who wandered into a campaign and hopped off in Valencia. This is their career."

Two weeks later, in his New York hotel room, Dalton refers again to those who have lost jobs. He knows the legal road ahead will be long, expensive, and it could get rough.

"I just feel sorry for those guys who are on the street and their families. That will always give me energy to keep this going. I won't run out of energy. I'll just think of those guys."

Should Team New Zealand win, any money awarded will be too late. The tens of millions in damages Team New Zealand is suing for are unlikely to arrive in time to benefit this campaign and Dalton knows it won't be a quick fix.

[Lin Olen]

The original "America" had much more going for it that subsequent designs. Thoroughly sea-worthy. Sail to the competition and thrash them! I hold little respect for design efforts post " Gretel"!! Give me an America type hull with a Rotary Sail and be damned to the opposition... Cheers, Lin

[ironmatar]

well this seems to be a kind of matter usually found on gaming forums,sad to see sutch played out live with real people.
anyway "Old School Box Rule" thought up in 5 minutes
Traditional raceing 19'x95' double ended long-ship hull with side hung tiller/rudder
along with Traditional sized Great single Mucking Striped Square Sail and rigging.... Crew with ballast to the same displacement for all boats....then we might see real raceing. :]

[masalai]

NO , just in the courts.....

[Roly]

Cahn should rule with an iron fist on DOG matters;And tell them they will get a less favourable response if they come back.
Dunno on the breach of contract. Could take forever to wade through.Procedure,jurisdiction etc. Hope Grant Daltons "friends" have deep pockets and are patient people or it all over for ETNZ.

[ironmatar]

Masalai if u want a sample eve-online.com forums Caod section and people are far less polite in that cold dark universe than this one. and to be honest the way things appear to be set up you have a person who has managed on a grand scale to subvert the rules/designers/officals so it is impossable for his team to not win under any circumstance. and or have every advantage in their favor. And anytime somone thinks they have a fair chance change the rules agian!

[masalai]

Thanks for the thoughts ironmaster, I was over WA when Bondy was bathing in the glory of the "AmericasCup" - I have even held the old mug! - He (Bond) made sure the "Mug" went to all the Yacht Clubs in WA.... What a thrill - not too many people have managed to put their finger prints on that piece of metal

The politics and BULLSHIT (I had to "yell" it or swear as normal adjectives seem lacking), LIES, CHEATING and other forms of skulduggery was too much for me... All honest competition efforts seem to be f***ed again by big money wanting to have it their way, not by fair competition... Therefore I am not really interested, - just like to deliver a snide kick every so often

[Guillermo]

From Scuttlebutt:

NEW AMERICA'S CUP YACHT DESIGN RULE GOES LIVE
Through a consultation process headed by Tom Schnackenberg between the
America's Cup Defender Alinghi team, the Challenger of Record and the 17 other
entered teams, a new America's Cup class rule has been now revealed. This
group agreed to develop a boat similar in cost to the America's Cup Class
Version 5.0 boat, but with a more exciting performance. Called the AC33 Rule,
it evolved to a race yacht of 26m maximum length overall, with 5m of draft and
a displacement of 17.5tonnes.

The sail plan area is greater than with the ACC Version 5.0 but without
overlapping headsails, and as with the AC90 Rule contemplated in 2007, the
boat has a bowsprit and the spinnaker area is limited only by sheeting
constraints, not by measurement of dimensions. Given the lighter displacement,
the AC33 will be more demanding to sail upwind, and will provide sparkling
performance on the runs. Maximum beam is 4.8m, which will seem wide to people
used to the appearance of the Version 5.0 yachts, where the last generation of
yachts had a beam not much more than 3m in many cases. -- Full details:
http://www.alinghi.com/en/news/news/...dContent=18822

Full rule here: http://www.alinghi.com/multimedia/do..._AC33_Rule.pdf

Cheers

[whoosh]

interesting Guillo

and here
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/marine/new...es.cfm?c_id=61


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