Queries about suspected use of radar by America's Cup syndicate Oracle has led to a finding that all teams in the challenger series have been breaking the rules.
In a rule interpretation issued yesterday, the cup jury said equipment such as the laser range-finders that had been in common use during
the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series was not allowed by the event rules.
Now the jury wants the three teams left -- challengers Alinghi (Switzerland) and Oracle (San Francisco), and defender Team New Zealand -- to get together to decide what kind of signal receiving and transmitting equipment will be allowed for the rest of the contest.
In their interpretation, the jury said yachts were prohibited from carrying on board, unless expressly approved, any equipment capable of receiving or transmitting communications or signals.
Radar and laser range-finders were all types of equipment capable of receiving or transmitting communications signals, for which it could find no approval, the jury said.
They had produced a draft document for the three remaining syndicates to consider, in which the carrying on board of laser range-finders, radar and related equipment was approved with restrictions on their use.
The rules allowed for express approval to be given for some pieces of equipment.
Jury chairman Bryan Willis said the issue of the so-called goose on the back of Oracle's boat was not relevant to the interpretation. Officially the jury did not know what the goose was for, he said.
The question put before the jury on Friday by one of the challengers -- OneWorld, although they are not identified in the interpretation -- had been "generic".
The jury's interpretation would have no impact on results in the challenger series so far, because there had been no protests about any of the equipment, Willis said.
Generally, if a team suspected an opponent of breaking the event rules they could lodge a protest.
The protest did not need to have any substance to it, but once it was filed the jury could take an appropriately active role to find out whether or not there had been an infringement, he said.
- NZPA
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