AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Jury’s Decision on Violation by Nippon Raises Questions

The Louis Vuitton Cup international jury’s decision on Nippon’s non-use of a spinnaker pole against Il Moro di Venezia Tuesday raised more questions than it resolved.

The jury said Nippon broke a rule but wasn’t penalized because it would have won, anyway--if only, one might add, because Il Moro sailed toward the wrong mark on one leg.

The decision: “Nippon infringed Rule 64.3 because the tack of the gennaker was not in close proximity to the outboard end of the spinnaker pole.

“The jury considered that this infringement on this leg of the course had no significant effect on the outcome of this match. In the circumstances, the jury has decided that it is equitable to impose no penalty.”

Does that mean Nippon can keep on doing it? Does that mean that technical violations will be treated so leniently? What makes the difference in winning a race and what doesn’t?

Also, one of the five members of the jury, Masayuki Ishii, is Japanese. There is no Italian member. Ishii’s integrity may be beyond reproach, but it doesn’t look good.

Il Moro spokeswoman Monica Paolazzi said, “We found (the decision) rather strange, but we accept it.”

The Age of Russia team is still in town, working on its boat at the Knight and Carver Yacht Center on Mission Bay.

“They’d like to stay here and sail a demonstration series of some sort,” said Chris Haver, the yard’s America’s Cup liaison.

Italian boat builder Marco Cantoni says he still would like to get Slovenia’s wooden boat to San Diego for a similar purpose, but that’s a much longer shot.

The America’s Cup Organizing Committee didn’t validate Age of Russia for the Cup. That honor went to Red Star ‘92, which never got its boat out of Estonia.

Age of Russia also never got clearance from the Port Security Committee to put its boat in San Diego or Mission bays, but Haver said that may not be a problem.

“Not if K&C; owns it,” he said.

Haver says Age of Russia syndicate head Ernst Grakovsky has agreed to sign the boat over to Knight and Carver, which would then register it in California with CF numbers, just like any other private boat. Later, the boat would be sold back to Grakovsky for one dollar.

Haver says it would take from $150,000 to $200,000 to get Age of Russia ready to sail.

“We have some commitments for sponsorships that will help,” Haver said. “We’ll try our best to get the Russians to stay here.”

America 3 executive vice president Vincent Moeyersoms doesn’t deny that the syndicate’s inflatable chase boat has been taking underwater pictures of challengers’ keels, as charged by Nippon tactician John Cutler.

He doesn’t admit it, but he doesn’t deny it.

“We’ve had chase boats during our defense trials very close to our boats,” Moeyersoms said. “Everyone is trying to get close to see the other boats.”

Does America 3 have underwater cameras?

“That’s an area we’d rather not discuss,” Moeyersoms said.

Spirit of Australia’s Iain Murray spoke Wednesday of “a bloke in a canoe in Mission Bay with a camera strapped underneath,” and an America 3 power cruiser named Gazzini “with the windows blacked out” to mask an arsenal of sophisticated electronics that could be tapping rivals’ computer performance readouts.

Does America 3 have such a boat?

“There are a number of boats out there with instrumentation,” Moeyersoms said. “There’s a lot of gear on Betsy.”

Betsy is Team Dennis Conner’s catamaran power tender. It was so close to Wednesday’s action that New Zealand and Tre Kronor circled it before their start.

“Security is part of the game in the America’s Cup,” Moeyersoms said. “Everybody tries to get what information they can get. There’s also some misinformation being leaked from the camps.”

All of the stronger teams do aerial spying to check out keels, causing teams to muddle the view with wakes from their chase boats.

“But once you start racing you can’t do that,” Moeyersoms said, “and there are a lot of helicopters circling over the boats.”

Some information, including underwater photos, is said to be for sale.

“We haven’t really been approached,” Moeyersoms said.

Maybe it isn’t necessary.