ISAF and the 33rd America's Cup Mutiny

Drama, intrigue, twisting plot... all elements of a good story. Good stories may also have aspects we can relate to, yet can’t quite experience for ourselves. This was the 33rd America’s Cup, and like any good sequel, it carried on elements of previous episodes while also being unique. That it was.

Bitter billionaires contesting in a mano-a-mano duel. No-limit multihulls facing off in a never before seen match race contest. Tactics and strategy - on land and by sea. Probably the only failing of this movie was its excessive length. Parts should have been cut. But when the ending came, bamm, it provided that extra element that all good series have. Something we did not expect.

It was after challenger USA 17 crushed defender Alinghi 5 in both races to win the 33rd America’s Cup that Scuttlebutt legal analyst Cory E. Friedman broke the story of a mutiny on the race committee boat. What you say? Yes, during the deciding second race of February 14. 2010, the defense club - Societe Nautique De Geneve’s (SNG) - had their race committee actually go on strike and refuse to start the race ordered by ISAF approved PRO Harold Bennett.

The Swiss mutiny was publically deemed a violation of the highest order, and questioned again how the America’s Cup could be considered a fair sporting event as long as biased hands administered the event. But another question loomed too. Would ISAF have the courage to investigate the matter and deliver harsh punishment where needed?

After over three months, the answer is now upon us, and it is, just like the 33rd America’s Cup, not what we expected. Following a standard review process by the ISAF Race Officials Committee, it is their assessment of the ‘mutiny’ event that it may have been Bennett who was as much the mutineer as was the SNG race committee personnel.

What ISAF found were a series of conflicts of who was really in charge. As PRO, one would assume that Bennett was in charge. If he wanted to run the race, then the race would be run. There were legal documents that supported this position. However, Bennett had also agreed with SNG that there would be a voting system. Bennett was among the four members that comprised the SNG appointed race committee, and Bennett would hold two of the votes.

Prior to the start of the second race, a 3-2 vote was taken against starting the race. But Bennett believed the 7-9 knots of wind and 1 meter swell were suitable conditions, and when the three members of the SNG race committee refused to proceed and went below decks, he recruited non-SNG personnel and together they got the race started.

So what does ISAF intend to do? It would seem that there was not a lot they could do. They found the race to be a fair contest, and since SNG did not protest it, the steps forward for ISAF is to clarify their rules and regulations such that the responsibilities of ISAF appointed race officers are better understood. -- Craig Leweck

ISAF statement: http://www.sailing.org/32808.php
ISAF Race Officials Committee report: http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/ROCFindingsandReport-[8925].pdf