OK - IJ ruled on the measurement issued presented by BMWO this evening. If you recall this has come up in the New York Courts after Alinghi released the first NOR. Besides the shocking new way that NOR attempted to include rudders in BMWO's Length on Load Waterline (LWL) measurement, it also permitted the boats to take on and dump ballast that was not included in the boat measurement while racing. The Court ruled that this was not legal because it would permit the boats to effectively increase their LWL after measurement. The Deed of Gift places only a few design restrictions on the boats and LWL is the primary one.

The latest NOR and Sailing Instructions are seemingly conflicting about ballast. In some places it references that ballast will be handled in according with the ruling of the courts, and in others it has the same wording that permits ballast to be added and dumped after measurement and while under way. BMWO filled for redress on this point. I haven't seen the exact details but it sounds like neither team can score a complete win on the issue. The teams and the IJ watched a presentation by the Chief (and only) Measurer and there was much debate. According to Pierre at Valencia Sailing :




The IJ seemed satisfied by the presentation of the Measurer and their ruling is effectively "it's up to the measurer". We haven't seen the Measurer's presentation but it appears that the end result appears to be that teams will be permitted to take on and discharge ballast while under way. However, they have to have the maximum amount of ballast onboard during measurement. That's simple enough - but it gets more complicated related to the distribution. There have been some comments that the ballast has to be in a "performance enhancing position" but it's not clear if this is actually the case.

Both boats are longer than the 90' LWL limit but at rest, they both have methods of only touching the water at a length of 90 but with large suspended overhangs. BMWO, uses the center hull of the trimaran to carry most of the boat's weight while at rest and the amas skim the water at the center. Obviously, when heeled and on one hull, the entire 100 or 110' length of the ama is in the water. At the time BMWO challenged for the cup, it was inconceivable for these boats to take on and discharge ballast water. BMWO has since added some ballast tanks to take some advantage of whatever Alinghi rule changes they couldn't stop.

BMWO's Trimaran at rest. you can see how the center hull supports the amas.



Alinghi has been trying to slip in this rule for some time now as their lightweight catamaran really needs the ballast to be competitive in breeze - but they want to dump that water to take advantage of it's light weight construction for light air.

So what's the big deal with the ballast rule? Alinghi has several ballast tanks inside it's hulls including some large ones in the sterns. Over time, we have seen their catamaran exhibit very different stern weights while at rest and while under way. With these large tanks in the rear of the boat, they can pump all their ballast water to the extreme rear which effectively causes it to "pop a wheelie". If this ballast was distributed evenly, the LWL of their boat would measure at 115'. When popping a wheelie, it would measure 90' or less. And this puts us back to the Deed of Gift in that the redistribution of the ballast would permit them to sail a boat that if it were measured in that condition, would exceed the 90' LWL limit.

Alinghi popping a wheelie:


It's not entirely clear if the measurer will require the boats to place their ballast in race trim. Based on the luke warm response by BMWO in their press release this evening, I suspect that it's possible for Alinghi to pop a wheelie for measurement. The positive takeaway for BMWO is that the boats have to measure with the maximum amount of ballast on board and that the boats can't measure empty and then add 3 tons of water immediately after measuring in. The positive for Alinghi is that they can dump ballast and better trim their lighter boat for different conditions.

In every single iteration of the America's Cup - including the only other time the event came down to a Deed Of Gift match similar to this one, the measurements and measurement decisions were carried out by a committee. Alinghi put only one man in charge of this responsibility and one things for sure - I wouldn't want to be the Chief Measurer. The result of the entire event could rest squarely on his shoulders

IJ Ruling Scorecard (I'm ruling this one a tie):

BMWO: 2.5
Alinghi: 0.5

PS - how in the world do you ensure that either team is not taking on more ballast water than they measured with during the race? They can load up and dump seawater at will - it's going to be a tough one to manage.