When Team Australia withdrew as Challenger of Record last July, Luna Rossa was next in line. They decided to form a Challenger Committee to deal with Protocol changes proposed by the defender. What were they thinking? They gave up the power to veto any Protocol changes and left themselves vulnerable to a simple majority vote. In late March, ACEA announced plans to jettison the AC62 Class. Luna Rossa threatened to withdraw, pointing out that it was too late to make such a change and believing that the design rule should only be changed by a unanimous vote. Oracle’s proposal was not to change the AC62 Class Rule, but to discard it. They claimed this manoeuvre was a change to the Protocol, not a change to the design class. On March 31, Artemis, BAR and Team France voted to accept Oracle’s proposal to change the Protocol, dropping the AC62 and replacing it with the “America’s Cup Class.” Luna Ross was good to their word and promptly withdrew from the America’s Cup and cancelled the Cagliari America’s Cup World Series regatta, which was to have been held in June.
