Sarno loses credibility

When the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) filed their lawsuit in August 2007, deeming that Société Nautique De Genève had devised unfair rules for the next America’s Cup, their move to denounce the Swiss club’s plan had significant support. However, as time moved on, the desire to get the event back on the water increased, as did the professional sailors desire to get a paycheck again. The strong support that GGYC and their BMW Oracle Racing team had early on, had faded.

One of the more vociferous critics of GGYC had been Shosholoza team’s principal, Captain Salvatore Sarno, the leader of the beloved South African team from the 32nd America’s Cup. In Scuttlebutt 2655 (Aug. 7, 2008), when Sarno was asked whether BMW Oracle was right in appealing, he said, “BMW Oracle has never been genuine and has pursued only their own interests.” Interestingly, after the Appeals Court verdict, Sarno declared, “I think that it is the right verdict and that Alinghi and America’s Cup Management (ACM) made a mistake in accepting the challenge for the 33rd America’s Cup from Spain’s Club Nautico Espanol De Vela (CNEV).”