CC Meeting Tonight

UPDATE - 19:30 Friday: Today we have made good progress on a revised Notice of Race and schedule of racing for the balance of the rounds robin. Together with getting two flights completed today, it was decided to postpone the CC meeting scheduled for this evening to tomorrow (Saturday) evening. In the meantime, and as agreed and announced this morning with the Regatta Director, we are proceeding tomorrow with Flights 3 and 4 and the current pairing list. Now let's hope there is some wind again tomorrow.




Postscript to this morning's meeting: It was also agreed that the CC would meet again this evening, in the jury meeting room at the ACM offices, 90 minutes following the end of racing (or another "AP over A" postponement). Purpose, to discuss open points from this morning's meeting after delegates have a chance to consult their teams, and giving the Regatta Director and the Chair of the CC's Notice of Race working party time today to sort through various options.

Photog ("Heli") Agreement

This morning we are pleased to report that the agreement, long in the works, to relax the rules governing team photographers in helicopters and the use of still images by teams has now been signed by all relevant parties. It is, therefore, in effect for today's racing and henceforth.

The agreement also codifies the "Out of Race Area Undertaking" made by ACM in response to the protest of ACM by Luna Rossa a couple months back.

This is another of series of "omnibus" agreements, as your Ed. calls them, that are a simple and fast means of making a de facto amendment to the Protocol, and any and all other rules necessary to give effect to the changes agreed, without having to actually go through and individually amend the respective documents that may govern. Hence the final paragraph of the agreement:



The text of the agreement is available here (148kb .pdf file).

"On the one hand...."

The meetings go on, even out on the water. Saturday, while waiting for the wind to fill in, rules advisors Richard Slater (AUS, BMW ORACLE Racing), Dave Perry (USA, Victory Challenge) and Marco Mercuriali (ITA, Luna Rossa) gathered on a chase boat to continue trying to sort out the application of RRS 18.4 at the gate. The teams and umpires expect agreement on this sticky wicket before the CC's 15 March deadline. And, yes, you can always tell when sailors are having a rules or tactics discussion, in any language -- by the hands.

Eye in the Sky II

This is in follow up to Thursday's post. The CC will be discussing this issue at its meeting tomorrow morning here in VLC. Further info that any team may have will be appreciated.

In the meantime, Challengers received yesterday this communique from ACM after CC chair Alessandra Pandarese wrote asking for an explanation:


...regarding the helicopter flying over the Port and the Race course, it has been verified that it was chartered by the Ministry of Infrastructures (Ministerio de Fomento) and the Ayutamiento of Valencia with the production company MSL to get images of the coast and the port's infrastructures.

Due to all this, we would like to take the opportunity to clarify the airspace situation:

The approach path to Valencia's airport crosses the race course area, thus being a busy airspace, and restrictions cannot be placed beyond that agreed for official race days. However ACM has spoken to the helicopter companies we work with and have informed them of the sensitivies involved when filming the teams training and infrastructures. They have agreed to keep us informed whenever one of their helicopters will be chartered to get images of the port and the race course area, information which in turn we will pass on to the teams. We hope you understand that such collaboration can only be extended to the companies we work with and that we cannot be notified of all the airspace activity.

Finally on behalf of [ACM's] Julian Hocken, please find below further information on the rules governing the airspace:

Race day restrictions are set out in the Carta de Acuerdo between V07 and AENA (copy attached), and procedures in our own Air Operations Manual.

[Click here for the "AENA_carta de acuerdo America's Cup" - ingles.pdf.]

Outside official racing days observance of the Rules of the Air (ICAO Annex 2) and good airmanship should be enough for our purposes.

In this case key to the Rules of the Air are the Low Flying Regulations (Rule 5)

(i) Flight over Congested Areas

A congested area in relation to a city, town or settlement, means any area which is substantially used for residential, industrial, commercial or recreational purposes.

An aircraft (other than a helicopter) must not fly over a congested area:

+ below a height that would allow it to land clear of the area and without danger to people or property if an engine fails; or

+ less than 1,000 feet above the highest fixed object within 600 metres of the aircraft, whichever is the higher

A helicopter must not fly below a height that would allow it to land without danger to people or property if an engine fails. Nor (except with the written permission of the relevant Authority) may it fly over a congested area at less than 1,000 feet above the highest fixed object within 600 metres.

(ii) The 500 ft rule

An aircraft must not fly closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle or structure.


One of the questions that will be asked at tomorrow's CC meeting is why, if the helicopter was filming only "to get images of the coast and the port's infrastructures", did it overfly a number of Challengers including hovering at length above Mascalzone Latino Capitalia Team? According to an interview that ran on the Eurosport website yesterday with MLCT chairman Vincenzo Onorato, at the time of the incident Masclazone's yachts were training twelve miles offshore. Another question will be why the event authority was not informed of such an extensive helicopter operation over the PAC; or, if they were, why did they not advise the teams of the operation and instruct the heli not to overfly teams?

Act 13 Sailing Instructions

Late last evening the long AC 32 paper chase came one step closer to completion, with the Regatta Director's issuance of the Act 13 SIs. Once again, the Regatta Director has met the applicable deadline, and the CC appreciates his usual timely diligence.

Section 16, Prescription for an 18th Person, is essentially the same language used in the LVC SIs but is repeated here as a reminder to all Challengers:

16 Prescription for an 18th Person

Pursuant to ACC Rule 37.2(a), the following procedure is adopted for approval of an 18th person:

(a) A Competitor may submit to the Jury the names and sailing resumes of prospective persons to race as the 18th person. If no Competitor objects to a prospective 18th person within 72 hours of such information being made available by the Jury to all Competitors, the person shall be permitted to race as the 18th person regardless of whether or not that person has “acknowledged technical or tactical skill”.

(b) A Competitor may submit to the Jury the names and sailing resumes of prospective 18th persons [whether or not submitted under (a) above], and ask the Jury to decide if the person has “acknowledged technical or tactical skill” and is therefore not qualified to race as the 18th person. In making its determination the Jury shall consider any guidelines approved by the Defender and Challenger Commission for determining whether a person has “acknowledged technical or tactical skill”, and whether to impose restrictions on the number of days or races that a person may race as the 18th person. If a Competitor submits a name and resume to the Jury by 0830 on a race day, the Jury shall give its answer by 1030 that day. In addition to answering in the affirmative or negative, the Jury may answer that it could not make a determination in the time permitted.

(c) In performing its responsibilities under this prescription, the Jury shall determine its own procedures, quorum requirements, and the means of notification of Competitors.

The CC will discuss adopting guidelines per paragraph (b) above at its meeting in Valencia (and via conference call) next Monday 5 March.

LVC Sailing Instructions Issued

This evening Regatta Director Dyer Jones (USA) issued the Sailing Instructions for the Louis Vuitton Cup. [Update 16 Feb 10:05 -- As the website CupInfo.com has nicely put it, the SIs "are the last major piece in the rules puzzle for the conduct of the Louis Vuitton Cup regatta, detailing many practical aspects of the competition."]

The document is available as a .pdf file here.

Our thanks to Dyer and Principal Race Officer Peter "Luigi" Reggio for, as always, meeting the stipulated deadline -- in this case, 15 February per the NOR -- and for working closely with the Challenger Commission to arrive at rules that all involved are comfortable with.

Of particular interest will be the amended (from the Acts) procedure for advance approval of an "18th person" guest crew spelled out in SI 16. ACC Rule 37.2 states that individuals with "acknowledged technical or tactical skill" cannot serve as the 18th person. Guidelines to further define "acknowledged technical or tactical skill" are called for in SI 16.2, and these are currently under discussion by the Challenger Commission in consultation with the Regatta Director, Jury and Defender. The goal is to have the same guidelines for Act 13, the LVC and the AC Match.

Otherwise the SIs are pretty straightforward, and complement nicely the LVC Notice of Race issued by the Regatta Director on New Year's Eve.

One more document done and checked off the CC's "to-do" list.

Racing Rules Summit

Recommendations and Next Steps from the summit meeting here in Valencia on rules and umpiring (see previous post) that concluded today:

1. Gate questions (NZL) -- broad recommendation: when a zone light comes on, thereafter that yacht can sail no higher than her proper course to one gate mark or the other. Question remains whether the yacht could change her mind and sail (a proper course) back to the other gate mark. Draft answers coming from Brad Dellenbaugh and Sally Burnett. Ump Call 39 needs to be reviewed as well.

2. Ump 20 (USA) -- accept, language being polished by Brad and Sally.

3. MR 8 (USA) -- accept, and MR 8 to be clarified or a Q&A to be issued accordingly.

4. Leebow Tacking (USA) -- Umpires will discuss whether positioning of ump boats can be improved; not much support for changing tack complete to a VMG (lower) angle, but umpires would discuss further.

5. AC 2007-16 (Act 12 NOR) -- accept in principle the CC racing rules working party (John Cutler's group) concept and language; Brad and Sally to polish the language. Question remains whether it needs to apply at a rounding mark.

6. AC 2007-17 (Act 12 NOR) -- extend through the Match, replacing (delete) Ump 6.

7. Q&As 8 and 10 (SWE) -- accept, and Brad and Sally will amend those Q&A's accordingly.

8. Application of RRS 13.2 (Umpires) -- Brad and Sally will draft a new Q&A saying that 13.2 does not apply when the boom does not cross centerline (but the bottom third of the main has filled on the new tack -- gybe completion). See also AC 2007-06.

9. Other existing Q&A's and AC Calls will be reviewed by Brad and Sally but, at this point, no one is aware of other necessary changes.

10. Umpire Blog -- Brad will set up a blog on which future (and, if possible, the current) draft Q&As and Calls will be posted. All teams and umpires will be able to comment on the blog for others to see and react to. Check www.umpblog.blogspot.com for an example, though that may not be the final format or web address.

11. Umpire Signal System -- Brad and Sally to draft the USS addendum to the LVC Notice of Race, amending and updating Ump Notice 10 and the USS powerpoint presentation in accordance with discussions here. Feedback still needed from teams on whether "big problems" (when lights say black and the umpires' call is white) can be somehow fixed (by the umps on the water) or redressed (after the match by the Jury). See TFE email of 9 Feb.

12. Review/feedback from Brad and Sally on the above to come ASAP, but by Sat 17 Feb latest. Teams will have seven more days to give feedback back to all teams and the Umpires. Whether by email or blog Brad will advise. There may be one more reconciliation meeting in VLC on or about 1 March. Goal remains to have all finalized and published by 1 March.


The meeting is over, but the hard work continues in the Jury Room at the ACM Offices: Regatta Director Dyer Jones, umpire Sally Burnett and Chief Umpire Brad Dellenbaugh.

Summit Meeting on the Racing Rules

Someone once said that the America's Cup is three years of meetings followed by three months of racing. Sometimes it still feels that way, even with the advent of the thirteen pre-regattas or "Acts" that have (or shortly will have) taken place for this 32nd edition of the America's Cup over the past three years.

Today was another long but fruitful day of reuniones, this time with a mix of rules advisors and sailors from most of the twelve teams including Alinghi, plus chief umpire Brad Dellenbaugh (USA), umpire Sally Burnett (GBR), and Regatta Director Dyer Jones.

The agenda: sorting out the details of the Umpire Signaling System, and reviewing the Umpire "Calls" and Q&A's previously issued -- and deciding which need to be amended, deleted or otherwise kept in place for the LVC and AC 32 Match. All that, plus reviewing draft answers for questions from teams that have arisen since Act 12 last June. This kept the group fully occupied from 9 to 6, and we will go at it again most of tomorrow before Brad and Sally have to get back on their planes.

By Saturday evening we should have a summary of recommendations to send to all teams for a final once-over, and hopefully thumbs up, before the 1 March deadline (in the LVC Notice of Race for having all such calls and Q&A's answered).

This summit meeting was organized in follow up to last week's Challenger Commission meeting, a report of which you can read here. For extra credit on this arcane subject, you can read even more on the AC 32 Umpire website.



The rules gurus assembled in the Jury Room at the ACM offices. At the head of the table in the green shirt is John Cutler (NZL) of Desafio Espanol, who is chairing the session. Clockwise from John is umpire Sally Burnett (GBR), and chief umpire Brad Dellenbaugh (USA).



Brad, whose "real job" is racing director for the New York Yacht Club (and we do appreciate NYYC's letting us have some a lot of Brad's time), is induced by a signal from the photographer to pause while making a point with the magnetic boat models as Sally looks on. Will any big problems be fixed or otherwise redressed later?



Marco "Big Casino" Mercuriali (ITA) of Luna Rossa. A student of match racing, he probably has forgotten more about racing rules and umpiring than most people will ever know. The CC appreciates the time and effort Marco is putting in helping to sort out a fair and balanced rounds robin pairing list for all eleven Challengers.

Act 13 and LVC Notices of Race

As previously reported, on New Year's Eve AC 32 Regatta Director Dyer Jones published the Notices of Race for Act 13 and for the Louis Vuitton Cup (Challenger Selection Series). Both are now available to download as Adobe .pdf documents here:

Act 13

Louis Vuitton Cup

We are receiving many requests for a simple summary of the 2007 racing program, to wit:

Act 13 -- Tuesday through Friday 3-6 April, Act 13 is the final AC 32 "pre-regatta," and the last time the Challengers and Defender will race together until the AC 32 Match in June. Fleet racing, seven races scheduled over the four days, nominally two races per day except the final day, with one Reserve Day (7 April) in case all seven races have not been completed by 6 April. For Challenger Ranking points under the Valencia Plan, Act 13 is a "times three" regatta (2006 Acts were "times two" and 2005 "times one"), meaning the top Act 13 Challenger will score 11 x 3 or 33 Challenger Ranking Points, the second Challenger 10 x 3 or 30 points, and so on. The current Challenger Ranking Points leaderboard is here.

(In accordance with the Valencia Plan, at the end of Act 13 the Challenger with the most Challenger Ranking Points is given four bonus points to carry into the Rounds Robin, and the remaining Challengers are broken into three groups with three, two and one bonus point(s) each. Results from the Acts can also figure into tie breaking during the LVC rounds robin phase.)

LVC -- The Round Robin phase begins Monday 16 April (though there is continuing discussion about some Challengers racing their first matches on Sunday 15 April for promotional purposes -- this will be resolved at the CC meeting at the end of January). There will be two full Rounds Robin. RR1 is two races per day; RR2, one race per day. During each RR a Challenger races each of the other ten Challengers once, meaning 10 races per RR for a total of 20 races over the two RRs. Two points for each RR win. Therefore, a maximum of 40 points possible if you win all 20 of your RR races, and a maximum of 44 points total if you are the lead Challenger and carry four bonus points into the RRs.

(The reason each win in the RRs scores two points, instead of one point, is so the max Valencia Plan bonus points would only be about 10% -- 9.09% to be more precise -- of the total possible points in the LVC Rounds Robin. Had we used one point per win, we would have needed to use partial bonus points, and that would have been confusing for the media and fans to say nothing of the rest of us.)

On or about 6 May, RR2 will be over. The four Challengers with the top scores advance to the Semis. The other seven are "excused from further participation" as NYYC used to say. First place among the four gets to choose which of the other three it will race in its Semi.

The Semis begin 14 May and are head-to-head (knock out) series, first-to-win-five races. Winners advance to the Finals; losers go home.

The Finals begin 1 June, again first-to-win-five races. Winner goes to the AC 32 Match; loser goes home.

AC 32 Match -- The Match begins Saturday 23 June and is also first-to-win five. It should all be over, except possibly the shouting/celebrating, by the 4th of July.

Countdown to the Cup

Just three months from today, on 1 April 2007, all Challengers and the Defender are required to "unveil" and thereafter may no longer use "skirts" or "shrouds" to hide the underbodies of their ACC yachts.

Australia II, during the 1983 Cup at Newport, was the first yacht to skirt (at least in the modern era). Following the 1992 Cup in San Diego, rules were established to require the two AC finalists to unveil prior to the Match. This proved popular and the unveiling date was moved earlier in Auckland for the 2000 and 2003 Cups, to just before the start of the LVC finals. For AC 32, the Defender and Challenger of Record agreed in the Protocol to move the unveiling date even earlier, to just before the start of Act 13. This we think will be a popular move with the sponsors, media and fans, to say nothing of the sailors who are not fond of grappling with the wet, often slimy skirts at the start and end of each day's sailing. (There is a sequence of photos showing what a pain this is over on the BMW ORACLE Racing blog.)

The framework of the unveiling procedure for Sunday 1 April (which, coincidentally, is April Fools' Day in the USA among other places) has been agreed by ACM, the Challenger Commission and the Defender along the following lines, which we are in the process of formalizing into a proper tri-party agreement:


KEY DATES

Sat 31 Mar 07 -- Declaration Day.

Sun 1 Apr -- Unveiling Day.

Mon 2 Apr -- Act 13 "No Change Period" begins 24 hours before the first race.

Tue 3 Apr -- Act 13 Races 1 & 2, as previously published.


UNVEILING DAY SCHEDULE

The approximate Sun 1 Apr schedule:

0900-0930: ACM kick-off event of some sort; may be as simple as a cannon at 0930 signalling the start of the "no skirting period."

From 0930: Skirting no longer permitted through the end of AC 32; and each team's one or two declared yachts must be available for viewing as follows....

0930-1130: The forecourt of each team base shall be open to ACM accredited media and other media invited by that team, and to bona fide members of other teams. The one or two declared yachts of each team shall be on display in the forecourt with a full set of appendages, mast/boom optional, with 360 degree viewing (unless the Regatta Director decides that space at a team's base does not permit, in which case with at least 180 degree viewing from bow-on to stern-on of each yacht), and from a distance of no further than three metres back from the sheerline verticals ("drip lines"). Normal still and video cameras permitted without restriction; no banners, personnel or otherwise may be used by a team to obstruct a clear view of the hulls and appendages. Yachts may be hung from travel lifts or placed in cradles. Teams are requested not to have any formal presentations or ceremonies involving the boat during this time in deference to the media and other team members being able to freely visit the other 11 teams without time pressure or schedules to keep (however, refreshments, interviews, etc., are of course permitted). For the avoidance of doubt, yachts must be and remain unveiled/unskirted from 0930. Teams, of course, may do their own private unveiling or other ceremonies, with or without media, at any time or on any day prior to or after this two-hour period on 1 April, though teams that do media work the day before involving an unveiling are asked to embargo the photos until after the 0930-1130 session Sun morning.

1130-1400: The forecourts of each team base shall be open to the general public, and continue open to other teams and media. Teams may reasonably limit, for safety purposes, the total number of persons in their forecourts at any one time, with viewing continuing on the same basis as during the 0930-1130 period.

Beginning at 1330: Teams may also make ready and launch their boats in preparation for afternoon sailing.

After 1400: Teams may do as they wish -- extend the public viewing period, close their base and prepare to go sailing, close their base and leave for the day, close their base to prepare for private and/or other team functions, etc. For the avoidance of doubt, teams may not dock-out for afternoon sailing until 1400.

Later that afternoon: ACM plans to invite all the teams to an informal reception at the Foredeck Club.


OTHER PROVISIONS

Protocol 16.1 requires that yachts still under construction must be declared though they are not required to be unveiled until later. Some definition needs to be agreed on as to when a yacht is still under construction, with enforcement as and if necessary by the Regatta Director with the advice of the Measurement Committee, so that teams do not attempt to avoid unveiling under the guise of still being "under construction." Declared yachts in VLC must be unveiled.

Yachts "under repair" must be unveiled except in extraordinary circumstances akin to major re-construction, and only with the prior approval of the Regatta Director with the advice of the Measurement Committee.

ACM (and teams for that matter) may use boats to tour media and other special guests through the Port America's Cup during the period 0930-1330; accordingly, teams shall not obstruct the normal waterside view of their bases and declared yachts that are on display.

Teams shall cooperate with each other to allow members of other teams to arrive by chase boat during the 0930-1130 viewing period.

Failure to comply with this procedure may result in a protest by a team or the Regatta Director, with the jury having available the usual full range of penalties including ordering a team to do another, proper unveiling on another day.

We will address media rights to this Unveiling Day, and it is intended to allow film and photos to be used for promotional use by all teams, but (as always) not by their sponsors without prior approval of the depicted team. ACM will of course have usual full media rights, but (like teams) not have sponsor use of individual team images without approval.

Each team will have a sign near each yacht (not affixed to or obscuring the yacht) identifying its sail number, and optionally with information about designers, builders, date of launch, etc.



Australia II started it with her infamous green
"modesty skirt" at Newport during the 1983 Cup.