no.... it gives NZL two practice races to try out their stuff against Oracles best shot. If they bank a win.... they are on their way 1 to zip... if NZL loses.... the score remains... zero zero.
Clever penalty!
I must have missed something while I was in Dubai. Last I heard, the "Issue" was about 5lbs. and a center post that was 7mm too long...on one of Oracle's AC45 boats?
And for that, they are going to be penalized two points, in the AC 72 Regatta??
Or am I mixing two completely different infractions together?
There is a clause in the cup rules that gives the jury the ability to penalize for conduct that tarnishes the image of the cup. This was ironically put in place by Oracle to keep Grant Dalton (ETNZ) from publicly talking badly about the cup as he was prone to do in the past. ETNZ's protest argued that the modifications to the AC45 by Oracle was negative publicity and that allowed the penalty to carry beyond the withdrawal Oracle had already made from all previous AC45 events. That's why the penalty has carried over to the 72s.
