Legal complaint over America’s Cup ‘serious violations’ lodged with New York Attorney General
A past America’s Cup sailor has lodged a legal complaint with the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau over “serious violations of the America’s Cup Deed of Gift” by the Royal New Zealand YC.
The complaint centres around changes made to the rules of the America’s Cup for the current 38th cycle of the 175-year-old competition which is scheduled to take place in Naples, Italy in 2027.
According to American John Sweeney – who says he filed the complaint on February 12 – the rules infringed include those relating to the size of the boats used in the regatta and the relaxation of the ban on the use of stored power on the yachts. In particular Sweeney asserts that the foiling monohull AC75 class “cannot comply with the Deed’s load waterline length, beam, and draught requirements”.
The complaint also takes issue with the recent introduction of the America’s Cup Partnership, which Sweeney says: “has replaced yacht-club governance with for-profit corporations that bind all future Cup winners to sail under RNZYS rules …