america's cup confusion

[KasbeKZ]

could someone please clear up these basics for me? i've been searching my butt off trying to catch up with all the legalities circulating around the race but i really should have started reading a long time ago. i'm mostly wondering what technicality has allowed the race to consist of multi-hulls in the 33rd. also, i've seen a long list of competitors. will there be several regattas leading up to the cup to narrow them down? i'm a bit confused at how there's more than one challenger, though it looks in some articles that it's pretty certain that it's BMW oracle representing the USA against Alinghi 5 representing switzerland.

yeah. very basic questions that i could find through enough searching, but i would really like to find the simple answers and i've already been reading for what seems like days.

[Stuart Streuli]

KasbeKZ,

It's a mess, no question. There isn't a technicality behind the multihulls, rather the inadequacy of the Deed of Gift, which was drafted in the 1870s, long before anyone considered racing a multihull of this size. So much of the problems in the Cup come from the Deed being of a different era. There are two types of America's Cup: 1. A mutual consent Cup, where the defender and challenger get together and hammer out an arrangement. This is how the Cup has been run of late, with 1988 being the notable exception, and how more than one challenger can participate. 2. A Deed of Gift match is allowed for in case the challenger and defender cannot find common ground. Then the box for the competition is very loose, 90 feet water line with 1 mast, 115 feet water line with 2 masts, and a draft limit of 20 feet or so. In this case, the match includes just the defender and challenge, best of 3, with the first race 20 miles to windward and return, the second race a 39-mile triangle, and the third race just like the first. Fortunately Schuyler had the foresight that the challenger and defender might not get along. But other things he couldn't have foreseen (a defender from Switzerland, multihulls, moveable ballast, powered winches, etc.) have mucked this whole thing up.
Hopefully this chapter will be over in February, we'll have a winner, and they'll be a little more careful about picking the challenger for the 34th Cup so we can get back to the sort of racing we're more familiar with? Does that help?

-Stuart

[Skull & Bones]

Time for these guys to race and get this thing moving again. The legal games are getting old.

[KasbeKZ]

yeah thanks a ton!

[Stuart Streuli]

S&B,
You're dead on there. It's moved way past time to get this thing over with. Unfortunately, I'm still worried we could see further delays. Each team is working as hard as possible for every advantage. Hopefully Alinghi, once they get the written decision, will pick a site. The word is they're considering Valencia and a few Southern Hemisphere sites. We'll keep our fingers crossed.