Safety Recommendations from the Regatta Director have the force of rules.
Oracle Team USA AC72 capsized on their eighth sailing day.
Four teams have sailed AC72 catamarans on San Francisco Bay. Two of them have capsized, one fatally. Regatta Director Iain Murray issued his safety recommendations on 22 May 2013.
The recommendations became part of the application to the US Coast Guard for the “Marine Event Permit” for this summer’s racing. Assuming the Coast Guard issues the permit, the recommendations effectively become “requirements” – part of the regulations that apply to this America’s Cup. Article 16 of the Protocol for the 34th America’s Cup requires teams to comply with “applicable laws and regulations.”
Safety recommendations trump the Protocol, the AC72 Class Rule and the Measurement Committee.
Here are some examples of how the safety recommendations take precedence.
- Safety Recommendation 4.4 calls for lower wind limits than the ones in article 22.1 of Protocol.
- Safety Recommendation 4.9 eliminates the $100,000 fine for not racing specified in article 21.2d of the Protocol.
- Safety Recommendation 1.3d specifies rudder elevators that extend beyond the maximum beam, conflicting with the AC72 Class Rule article 5.5.
- Safety Recommendation 1.3e permits adjusting the rudder elevators until the warning signal, conflicting with Public Interpretation 19 of the Measurement Committee.
A “clarification” – transparent wings?
The recommendation that “soft coverings and soft fairings” should be transparent does not apply to the wings. All of the teams have large transparent lower sections in their wings, which apparently satisfies Regatta Director Iain Murray.
What about training?
All the above applies to racing. The recommendations remain “recommendations” during training. If a team wants to train in more than 23 knots of wind, there is nothing to stop them. Recommendations 3.2 and 3.3 call for two rescue boats to support each AC72, each rescue boat with a diver and a rescue swimmer. That means Oracle Team USA should have four rescue boats, each with a diver and a rescue swimmer, when they do two boat testing.
If the teams follow the recommendations during training, they will reduce the risk of more AC72 capsizes and should improve the sailors’ safety during and after a capsize.
America’s Cup Safety Recommendations 
34th America’s Cup Protocol 
America’s Cup AC72 Class Rule