Red Star Fails on Deadline : Challengers: Russian syndicate fails to meet second deadline to reach San Diego, but that doesn’t mean an end to the controversy.
No sooner had the life been permanently snuffed out of Russia’s dream to enter its first America’s Cup that it was momentarily resuscitated by a governing body that has refused to say nyet.
Stan Reid, director of the Challengers of Record Committee, said Sunday afternoon that it was officially over. Red Star ’92 never got its boat or its crew to San Diego and therefore forfeited its opportunity to compete in the challenger trials, which begin Saturday.
“The Ocean Racing Club of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) is the challenging yacht club,” Reid said. “Each yacht was supposed to be here by midnight on the 14th and they failed to make that deadline. (ORCL President) Oleg Larionov asked for a 24-hour extension and he got 4 1/2 days, which ended at midday.”
End of challenge, end of story, and the Russian crew and boat that did make it here but never were recognized as legitimate--Age of Russia--goes home empty-handed, right? Not so fast, said America’s Cup Organizing Committee General Manager Tom Ehman.
In a statement released shortly after Reid’s informal press conference, Ehman said talks of a merger between Age of Russia and Red Star had progressed substantially late Saturday and all day Sunday. To pull the plug now would be unfortunate.
“After all these people have been through to get this far . . ., it seems only fair to give the ORCL every reasonable opportunity to fulfill their dream of competing for Russia in America’s Cup ’92.
“If the merger is soon consummated, and if we are formally and properly so advised, we would urge the CORC continue to be flexible and accommodating, and that together we pitch in and make every effort to help get the Ocean Racing Club Leningrad team and their yacht to the starting line.”
The key phrase in Ehman’s notice may well be “if we are properly so advised.” Anyone who has at all followed the ongoing saga of Russia’s attempt to participate in this regatta knows what a twisted and confusing tale it is.
“You’re never quite sure who is representing who, the picture is unbelievably confusing,” Reid understated. “. . . I’ve been associated with the Russian challenge for over three years, and I get confused. I think they’re confused as to who’s representing who.”
Reid said he has had enough of the name-calling and political maneuvering by the factions and said the remaining eight challengers have been more than patient.
“I’m fed up with the necessity that my other challengers have had to compromise their measurement programs,” Reid said of the sacrifice the challengers made to enable the Russians to have their boat measured Sunday. “(The challengers) all agreed to give up (Sunday). They gave up (Sunday), they’re not going to give up any more time.”
Besides, at a meeting in St. Tropez, France, in October, Reid said he suggested to Larionov that the two groups should look at a merger and Larionov “stood up at that meeting and said there was absolutely no possibility of that taking place.”
But are the Russians willing to concede when Ehman has seemingly left negotiations open?
Red Star representative John Sawicki, who rents space to the New Zealand syndicate and is trying to lure the Russians to Coronado, has all but thrown in the towel. Sawicki said he talked to Larionov from St. Petersburg and he agreed to the merger, but Larionov needed the backing of his ORCL board members and wouldn’t fax his final acceptance response until this morning.
“Technically, it’s over,” Sawicki said. “Larionov wants to go ahead with the merger but he has to get the approval of his board. I left it (with Larionov) that if they could convince CORC and Tom to extend the deadline, then we could go ahead.”
Chris Haver, who represents Knight & Carver boatyard, said:”I still think the odds of working anything out are 1 in a 100,” Haver said. “If they’re anxious to work something out, they’ll do it. . . . But it’s definitely not over.”