2010 Americas Cup In Valencia
The 33rd Americas Cup will be between current holder of the cup, Société Nautique de Genève defending with team Alinghi against Golden Gate Yacht Club, and their racing team BMW Oracle Racing. The 33rd Americas Cup has been the subject of extensive court action and litigation surpassing in distrust and intrigue even the controversial 1988 Americas Cup. The match will take place as a one-on-one Deed of Gift match in gigantic, specialized multi-hull racing yachts with no other clubs or teams participating.
When Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) successfully defended the trophy in the 32nd Americas Cup they immediately accepted a challenge from Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) a Spanish organization formed expressly for the purpose of challenging for the cup and keeping the regatta in Valencia. When SNG and CNEV published their protocol for the 33rd Americas Cup challenge, there was widespread consternation over its terms, with some teams and yacht clubs calling it the worst protocol in the history of the event.
Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) filed its own challenge for the Cup and then filed a court case asking that CNEV be removed as Challenger of Record as being unqualified under the Deed of Gift. GGYC also asked that it be named as the rightful Challenger of Record, being the first club to file a conforming challenge. As the legal proceedings progressed, SNG continued to work with the other teams on the protocol, and by December 2007 twelve challengers had met the entry deadline and were preparing to race in a multi-challenge 33rd America’s Cup.
There followed a long and acrimonious legal battle, with the New York Court of Appeals finally deciding on April 2, 2009 that CNEV failed to show that at the time it submitted its Notice of Challenge it was a "[c]lub fulfilling all the conditions required by" the Deed of Gift, [therefore] it does not qualify as the Challenger of Record for the 33rd Americas Cup.
As a direct consequence, the Deed of Gift Match between the Swiss Defender Alinghi and the American Challenger BMW Oracle will take place in Valencia, Spain, with a best-of-three regatta in February 2010.
The first race, 20 miles to windward and return, is scheduled on Monday February 8th. The second race, an equilateral triangular race of 39 miles, the first side of which shall be a beat to windward, is scheduled for Wednesday February 10th. If required, the third race, again 20 miles to windward and return, is scheduled for Friday February 12th.
