From the Challenger Commission

Minutes from the latest meeting in Malmo

The Challenger Commission for the 32nd America's Cup met at the call of the Chairman, George Clyde in Malmo, Sweden yesterday, hosted in part by Louis Vuitton.

Representatives from all eleven Challengers were present:

- BMW ORACLE Racing (USA) -- Russell Green and Tom Ehman
- China Team (CHN) -- Jean-Charles Scale
- Desafio Espanol (ESP) -- John Cutler
- Emirates Team NZ (NZL) -- Kevin Shoebridge
- K-Challenge (FRA) -- George Clyde and Dawn Riley
- Luna Rossa (ITA) -- Bruno Finzi and Luis Saenz
- Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team (ITA) -- Tom Weaver and Alessandra Pandarese
- Piu 39 (ITA) -- Paul Henderson
- Team Shosholoza (RSA) – Salvatore Sarno and John Sweeney
- United Internet Team Germany (GER) -- Uwe Sasse
- Victory Challenge (SWE) -- Bjorn Ohde

Also present were CC Assistant Michael ten Bokum. At the invitation of the CC, ACM Regatta Director Dyer Jones, Jury Chairman and Chief Umpire Bryan Willis, and Jury Secretary Sasha Lines were present for a portion of the meeting.

Main decisions and points of discussion:

Sliding Keels and Centerboards - A proposal was unanimously supported to make a submission to the Jury asking, for the avoidance of doubt, for an interpretation that the provision in the Deed of Gift allowing centerboards and sliding keels on yachts can be modified by mutual consent, and that the Class Rule (which has been agreed by mutual consent) does, once again, effectively ban the use of centerboards and sliding keels for the 32nd America's Cup.

Acts 10 & 12 (2006) Match Racing Format - A proposal by ACM to split the 12 teams (eleven Challengers plus the Defender) into two pools of six teams each for a single round robin, with the top two teams from each pool then advancing to a semi-final, etc., was not supported. The Challengers were unanimous in their support for one pool for the round robin racing in both match racing Acts in 2006, giving each Challenger the opportunity to race Alinghi and each of the others Challengers.

Protection of AC Trademarks - It was agreed to ask ACM for further information on ACPI's program with respect to the protection of America's Cup trademarks and copyrights, especially in view of recent media reports about 'America's Cup' events in both golf and volleyball.

Trapani Housing - It was reported that two cruise ships have now been contracted as the housing for AC teams and the organisers for the Trapani Louis Vuitton Acts 8 and 9 next month. Logisitical and other concerns were raised, and the Chairman will take those up with ACM.

Onboard TV Cameramen - The Chairman confirmed that an agreement has once again been signed (by him on behalf of the CC, by ACM and by the Defender), and thanked the Challengers for their unanimous support. It is essentially the same agreement as Act 4. Accordingly, for the match racing in Malmo the Race Committee will ask teams in certain matches to carry weight-equalised TV cameramen on board as an enhancement to the television coverage. The CC continues to insist that ACM provide remote-control, minicams for racing in 2006 (and beyond).

Image Rights - A proposal for a blanket consent agreement as between all Challengers and the Defender permitting the responsible use of photos in which others teams' yachts also appear (without seeking approvals photo by photo) was unanimously agreed.

Race Committee Mics - The CC confirmed their support for the consensus reached at the Act 4/5 debrief meeting that, if practicable, Race Officers Peter Reggio and Harold Bennett should be mic'd for broadcast, or at least their radio transmissions to the yachts (about race committee intentions and updates) be in the clear so spectator boats, media, etc. could listen in. It was noted that during the 2003 AC Match not only was the PRO (Harold Bennett) mic'd, but he had a TV camera aboard the RC boat covering his actions and comms with the yachts. All felt this had been interesting and helpful.

Sail Limits - A proposal to ban staysails for the balance of 2005 was not supported. A proposal was generally supported to reduce the new-sail limit for 2006 from 26 (which is the 2005 limit, and which was previously proposed as the limit for 2006) to 23, pending Reps taking guidance from their teams.

Minimum Number of Races to Constitute an Act - The CC asked the Regatta Director to consider what might be done scoring-wise should fewer than three races be completed in either of the remaining fleet racing Acts this year. In that case, the CC would prefer that the Act not be counted for the purposes of the Valencia Plan (Louis Vuitton Cup scoring). It was recognised that for other purposes (Act prizes and the ACC annual championship) completion of a single race should nonetheless constitute either of the fleet racing Acts.

Jury/Umpire Matters - The CC were pleased to receive a report from Bryan Willis on his team's ongoing efforts to improve the umpires' electronic signalling system (to the yachts while racing) which had been used to generally good reviews in Valencia for Acts 4 and 5. Bryan asked for the CC's support to take the system the next step, such that the GPS data from the yachts could be fed to a secure umpire computer system to instantly and automatically compute and display (for both the umpires and yacht) the relative position and speed of the yachts and hence indicate overlaps, laylines and when the yachts had entered the 'zone' (for determining buoy room rights at turnings marks and the gate).

The Chairman closed the meetings by thanking all for their continuing cooperation and support, and commented on how effective the CC has been on getting any number of important issues resolved. The good efforts of ACM and the local organizers in setting up what, by all appearances, looks like a great venue and upcoming event here in Malmoe were also recognized.

The CC will next meet for a short debrief following Act 7 in Malmoe on Monday, 5 September at 10:00 (note new time) at a location TBD. Meetings in Trapani on Tuesday, 27 September (all day) and on Monday, 10 October (debrief at 09:00) were also set.

To read more about the Challenge Commission - see their blog site.