It seems the America’s Cup is heading back to court.
Again.
So SailJuice will stay away from this tedious topic until it shows signs of returning to a sailing contest.
I will just draw your attention to an open letter written by Mascalzone Latino boss Vincenzo Onorato, one of the disgruntled ‘non-Challengers’. It’s called How To Save the America’s Cup. He makes a few sensible suggestions (which admittedly are worth diddly in the strange netherworld of the 33rd AC) and he drops a few bombshells too.
You can read Vincenzo’s full text here.
Here’s a bit to whet your appetite (if you’ve got any appetite left for this legal borefest. Even John Grisham lost interest months ago):
“Following the launch of the challenge, ACM sent us an invoice for fifty thousand euros which we paid immediately. Are we perhaps the only ones to have done so to date? They replied in writing that they would accept our challenge only if we withdrew our declaration filed with the Supreme Court of New York. This is not required by the protocol, but it is clear that Alinghi writes and rewrites the rules to suit its needs.
“I answered by reminding them that a citizen accepts the laws even if he doesn’t agree with them and that in a democracy there is freedom of speech and criticism. The simple metaphor was not understood. ACM/Alinghi replied by claiming a public abjuration. It would have been pointless to remind them that the last Italian forced to make such a strong retraction was Giordano Bruno, in medieval times under the Holy Inquisition…
“It’s a harsh precedent that will weigh on the future of the Cup and those who love sailing, but leaving irony aside, we must seriously consider that this event has been profoundly damaged by Alinghi. The sponsors have disappeared and people are tired of all these controversies.”
Posted in Vincenzo Onorato | Tags: Americas Cup, Vincenzo Onorato
