«The most scandalous Cup of all time (we are of course referring to the America's Cup») continues to hold its mark. The defender of the Cup, Oracle Team USA has been found to have illegally modified three AC45 catamarans and has been forced to recall the results of these boats from four pre-cup regattas (AC World Series). The results of these races will be recounted.
Each AC45 boat received 2.5kg of ballast not approved by the Measurement Committee. In the opinion of the International Jury it looks like a deliberate attempt to bypass the class limits (rule 69) and in sailing this is a serious offence. In the meantime Oracle Team USA put a good face on a bad boat by not even mentioning in their statement that AC45 is far from AC72 and that the boat performance was not changed in any way.
Our editorial staff can't help asking one question - what the heck were they made for?
» Although no, there are much more questions - who will guarantee that Americans also decided «not to modify the AC72, on which «America's Cup» takes place? Who would believe, that a very powerful sailing team modified three boats and none of the America's Cup organizers know a thing about it? After all, why did this come up now when (attention!) the boats were changed a year ago!
It is also not clear who on the team knew and who didn't. Oracle Team USA claims it was «a conspiracy by» a small group of people, and management and skippers had no idea of their shenanigans. We honestly want to believe it was the shenanigans of a few misguided souls.
» Although wait, this is the same team that a couple of months ago, realizing that they are inferior in speed to Emirates Team New Zealand, decided to try to push for changes in the rules of the already «main class of the Cup - AC72.
Anyway, all 40 people will be polled by the International Jury. But it is not nice for all team members - because they are all «in the same boat».
The investigation continues. We are watching.
