AC 33 Jury | 3

From Scuttlebut Europe:
America's Cup Jury Denies BMW Oracle Request For Redress
The ISAF appointed international jury denied BMW Oracle's request for redress regarding measurement of the competing yachts
The ISAF International Jury for the America's Cup issued an interim decision late Tuesday night rejecting the challenger, BMW Oracle's latest complaint regarding the position and volume of the water ballast onboard the racing yachts during measurement.
"We are pleased that the jury upheld the New York Supreme Court and expert panel decision of November 2009. This is a positive step towards the America's Cup - we are glad that measurement can go ahead as scheduled and that the challenger's request for redress has been denied. With just a few days to go before the first race of the 33rd America's Cup, the team is fully focused on race training and preparations," said Grant Simmer, Alinghi design team coordinator.
* Summary Of Decision:
The Jury is satisfied that the Measurer has made a reasonable interpretation of the decision of the Supreme Court of the State of New York dated November 19th 2009 in the published Measurement Procedures, and in the proposed implementation of those procedures as presented in the hearing. The procedures will include the Measurer being satisfied that the position and volume of water ballast on board when the boat is presented for measurement is consistent with that used for the purpose of enhancing racing performance.
The Jury interprets the term 'as much water ballast as might be used at any time during the race' to mean the maximum amount used for enhancing racing performance, at any time during any race.
Paragraph 20 of the Expert Panel's Opinion, adopted by the Supreme Court of the State of New York in its decision, applies only to multihulls and it is reasonable to conclude that this does not mean 'equally fore-and-aft' as that would also apply to monohulls.
The Jury therefore accepts as reasonable the interpretation used by the Measurer that 'distributed equally in the available ballast storage areas' is for the purpose of presenting the boat in an upright position, laterally, for measurement.
The Requests are therefore denied.
A full written decision will follow.

The International Jury is ready to hear Alinghi and BMW Oracle on the measurement issue.

Valencia, 2 February 2010. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Other decisions reached by the AC 33 Jury:

• The (first) start time for races will be 10:06.
• Race Office Harold Bennett has been given the discretion to use his experience and judgement on what constitutes fair and safe conditions for racing.
  (this covers issues in wind speed as well as conditions (water, waves etc)
  
• GGYC’s yacht USA has also been cleared to use onboard wind-detection equipment.
• GGYC’s yacht USA has been cleared to use “fast and green” friction-reduction technologies.

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See also: Statement GGYC 3 feb 2010

This leaves the issue about the order in the race documents and RRS....