So Justice Cahn was right all along. After having his original verdict autumn 2007 overruled in summer 2008 when the Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) was reinstated as the Challenger of Record, in early April Justice Cahn's colleagues this time voted 6-0 in favour of casting the Spanish yacht club back into outer darkness. The Golden Gate Yacht Club is now reinstated as the Challenger of Record.
The spirit of the America's Cup is always at its best when there is no America's Cup is at stake. We saw this during the Louis Vuitton Acts that travelled across Europe in the three years leading up to 2007, and the same carnival atmosphere was evident in Auckland for the recent Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. When the future of the Auld Mug is in the balance, steely-eyed determination and ruthlessness wipe all niceties aside...
Just before Christmas I asked Russell Coutts what type of boat he wanted to see emerge as the replacement for the ageing and rather ponderous Version 5 class which has been the Cup boat for the past two decades...
I wonder what state the challenger teams in the America’s Cup would be in right now if the original AC90 class had gone ahead as planned. It was only just over a year ago when Alinghi revealed the fruits of their design work with a number of other challenger teams, for an ambitious 90-footer, of which any team would be allowed to build up to two hulls. Two hulls would have meant having two full-time crews to train, tune and race in them...