It appears that the Defender and Challenger of Record for the 36th America’s Cup have reached agreement on what was looking to be a major point of contention between them.
Following on from meetings held in Auckland last week between the Defender and Challenger of Record, an agreement has been reached to resolve a series of issues in the best interest of the event.
Patrizio Bertelli, CEO of the Prada Group and Chairman of the Challenger of Record met with the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, in Auckland and an agreement was reached to resolve a number of pending issues, some of which were due to be considered by the Arbitration Panel next week.
According to the press release and an attached amendment to the Protocol, deferred payment of the late entry fee has been agreed and the validity of the three late entry challenges accepted.
Thus the three late entries, Stars & Stripes Team USA, DutchSail and Malta Altus Challenge are now accepted.
The press release does not make any mention of the design package offered by Emirates Team New Zealand to the late entrants or of the request by DutchSail for an event to be run in Holland.
Another item still to be resolved is the first America’s Cup World Series event set for October 2019 for Cagliari, Italy, but looking unlikely after delays in the foil arm design and manufacture, and the indication that the latest entrants may not reach the protocal launch dates.
Interestingly in the press release Emirates Team New Zealand CEO, Grant Dalton comments, “The path is therefore now clear for the late entries to continue building their respective campaigns to try to participate and the Defender and Challenger of Record will give whatever support they can.”
Download Amendment 03 to the Protocol of the 36th America’s Cup here
