6:06 PM Tue 27 Oct 2009 GMT
In a Hearing in the New York Supreme Court today, Justice Shirley Kornreich ruled that any venue arbitarily selected by the Defender of the America's Cup for the 33rd match had to be Deed compliant.
The decision from the Bench surprised many, and means that the only valid venue for the 33rd Match is Valencia, Spain; or a Southern Hemisphere venue; or a venue determined by mutual consent between the Challenger, Golden Gate Yacht Club and the Swiss Defender, Societe Nautique de Geneve.
While the move would appear to remove the chosen venue of Ras al-Kaimah as a location, that would only apply if the Match were still to be sailed on 8 February 2010, and there was no mutual consent between the Challenger and Defender.
While agreement between the latter seems unlikely at this stage, the ongoing legal proceedings may well create further delay, slipping the match beyond May 2010, meaning that SNG could well select the Northern Hemisphere venue.
Alternatively SNG could arbitarily select a Southern Hemisphere venue for a Match in February 2010, without any consent required from the Challenger.
On the issue of the Rules, it would seem that many of the issues raised by Golden Gate were not supported by the Court. However staying consistent with the 'Four Corners of the Deed' doctrine, Justice Shirley Kornreich ruled that the measurements, as stated in the Deed of Gift should not be exceeded, and by implication could be less than stated on the Notice of Challenge filed by Golden gate yacht Club in July 2007.
Statements are expected from the parties later today, which will confirm the Decisions.
by Richard Gladwell
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Double Is Pt, QLD
