Accusations of cheating from one side (or two sides in this case with both Luna Rossa and ETNZ piling on), countered by, “Thanks guys, keep it coming, this is great motivation for our team”.
See it all in one report here
What to make of it all?
For me, all this really means is we’re getting close to the America’s Cup Finals.
The challengers are working overtime to distract the defender from its task, exactly as one would expect them to do. And ORACLE TEAM USA has made this easier with its admitted missteps regarding measurement irregularities on its AC45s at the America’s Cup World Series events.
The International Jury is investigating the issue, but while its inquiry remains in the interview stage, the teams are not constrained by confidentiality and are getting stuck in with an all-out PR offensive.
This isn’t new in the America’s Cup. Remember Dennis Conner saying to the Kiwis in 1987, “Why would you build a plastic yacht … unless you wanted to cheat?”
What’s happening now is exactly what we should expect at this point in the regatta.
The hard part is seeing through the fog to sort the fact from the fiction. But fortunately, we don’t have to do that.
The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) appointed International Jury is doing this work on our behalf.
Experienced, highly qualified, and tenacious, the Jury is currently conducting a thorough investigation by interviewing anyone connected to the case to establish the facts.
There is no timetable for the Jury to conclude its investigation and release its report. Their goal, as it should be when the stakes are high, is to get this right. Depending on what they find, a case may be opened under Rule 69 of the Racing Rules of Sailing or Article 60 of the America’s Cup Protocol.
Only when this Jury process is over will we really know where we stand.
But that’s not going to stop this war of words. Count on it.
- Peter Rusch
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