BMW-Oracle says Alinghi's sails not made in Switzerland

Update 18:35  Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – America’s Cup challenger BMW-Oracle and defender Alinghi are set to go back to court in New York after negotiations broke down in Singapore 12 January. The two sailing teams and their boats are in Valencia, Spain to contest sailing’s oldest and most prestigious race, a best of three meets that begins 8 February. Final details of the rules for the races are under discussion, but a sticking point lately has been the source of Alinghi’s sails.

BMW-Oracle maintains that Alinghi’s sail, made in the USA, violates the Deed of Gift’s stipulation that the boat be entirely built in the country the team represents, in this case Switzerland, home of the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG). The Deed of Gift is the document that lays down the ground rules for the 159-year-old race. Alinghi says bluntly that BMW-Oracle has it wrong.

“Once again SNG is showing total disregard for the Deed,” said CEO of BMW-Oracle Racing, Russell Coutts. “First SNG claimed that sails were not part of the yacht. Then it claimed that Alinghi’s sails were built in Switzerland, not the USA.”

Alinghi for its part says in a statement issued Wednesday 13 January that the sails were built in Villeneuve, the port on Lake Geneva where the boat had its first launch. “BMW Oracle’s statement that Alinghi will be using USA-made sails is wrong. The sails for the Match have been constructed in a sail loft in Villeneuve, Switzerland. Furthermore, the 3DL process of making sails is subject to Swiss intellectual property rights. The inventors of the process, Jean-Pierre Baudet and Luc Dubois, are two Swiss engineers. Every challenger and defender for the America’s Cup since 1995 has used 3DL Swiss technology based sails.”

Some observers speculate that team Alinghi may concede the point to BMW-Oracle in exchange for a delay in the beginning of the race. No one knows how the massive and fast boats will handle in winter conditions off the coast of Valencia, and sports critics note that, crucially, team BMW-Oracle needs more time to train on its trimaran.

Background: “Alinghi publishes America’s Cup rules“, 8 January 2010, GenevaLunch

Other links: AP, The Independent, TVNZ

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.