Secret ISAF agreement

GGYC respond to the confidential ISAF-SNG agreement, over the running of the 33rd AC, being made public

An interesting development in the political machinations over the rules for the 33rd America's Cup is that the agreement between ISAF and Alinghi/Societe Nautique de Geneve, that was confidential to the point where the State of New York Supreme Court had to order Alinghi/SNG to show it to BMW Oracle Racing/Golden Gate Yacht Club on the proviso that they signed a non-disclosure agreement, has now all of a sudden been made public.

The agreement can be read here -

There is an accompanying letter from the SNG, firming up some of the details of the agreement here -

This has come following an impressive piece of manoeuvring by Scuttlebutt's legal ace Cory Friedman, who somehow managed to obtain a copy of the secret agreement "openly, properly and lawfully from a public source". Friedman sought agreement of the court to make the agreement public, thereby promoting Alinghi/SNG legal representative Barry Ostager to send this damning letter to the Supreme Court's.Justice Kornreich.

More intriguing still is that BMW Oracle Racing/GGYC are maintaining the agreement that has been made public as an amended version of what they received following the latest round in the Supreme Court. They respond:

"GGYC re-asserts its reasonable request that the 33rd America's Cup be sailed under the undoctored ISAF rules and not some hybrid version which the SNG has tailored for its own benefit under the scope granted to it in the secret agreement struck with ISAF.

"This agreement is now public, as GGYC requested. Some of the terms of the agreement have been altered, but there is still a long way to go before the 33rd America's Cup can be considered a legitimate competition for both defender and challenger.

"SNG is clearly bound by the Deed of Gift to sail under ISAF rules because they are the rules of the defending club.

"To achieve a competitive and legitimate 33rd America's Cup, we need to ensure, among other concerns, that:
- SNG can only amend its normal racing rules with the mutual consent of GGYC, per the Deed of Gift;
- SNG does not have a veto power over the appointment of the jury;
- The normal ISAF redress procedures are in effect, with the jury freely able to interpret or amend the rules as it sees fit;
- SNG is not permitted to obtain confidential interpretations from the officials that are not also available to GGYC; and
- The text of the agreement itself is formally and officially revised, not purported to be amended via press releases and side letters.

"GGYC will continue to work to ensure a set of rules that are fair to both competing teams.

"We apreciate the strong showing of support from the international sailing community and media for our court motion to compel public disclosure of the agreement between SNG and ISAF, which had been executed in secret.

"We remain excited about racing for the 33rd America's Cup in February 2010 provided that we are treated like any other competitor in any other regatta in the world – able to compete under ISAF's rules and regulations."