In regards to ballast as far as I understand it: 1) They must fill the boat for measuring with as much ballast as they will race with. 2) They can put the ballast anywhere in the boat they want. 3) They can discharge the ballast but cannot take on more than what they measured with.
There's a lot of talk about it, but we've heard absolutely zilch about the measurement of either boat. BMWO did make an official statement or two that they didn't agree with the measurement procedure because it could lead to some ridiculous outcomes (200 foot LOA boat with two 3000 gallon tanks on the back to make it pop a wheelie and displace only 90' for measurement). There is also a lot of semi-official (press) speculation that Alinghi would have to have NO ballast in order to measure under 90 feet if sitting level but that she would need a good deal of ballast to handle any kind of breeze. They really cornered themselves with a design dependent on a questionable rule/measurement issue. At the outset, Alinghi had intended to be able to take on as much ballast as they wanted after measurement.
The New York Court ruling stipulated that the ballast was to be distributed evenly fore and aft...somehow that got changed (because it would effectively cripple Alinghi to the point where they couldn't measure in?).
