Golden Gate Yacht Club Challenge Explained

If you haven't heard - Golden Gate Yacht Club - Larry Ellison has put in a Challenge. Last week some of his representatives went to Switzerland and hand delivered a challenge. The explanation can be accessed at: www.ggyc.com and the text of the Challenge can be read at: http://www.ggyc.com/GGYCChallenge.pdf

They filed because legally the Spanish Challenge is not valid. Main reasons are because the yacht club is not a 'real' yacht club and more fundamentally because the challenge and the protocol do not specify required items like the type of boat and the date and location for the regatta.

When you read the text you will see that there is the possibility for a race in July 2008 with 90 foot boats. This is in there because it is the default time and boat according to the deed of gift and is what would happen in the event that Alinghi doesn't negotiate with GGYC.

The quickest and best scenario is that Alinghi either changes the Spanish protocol to something that is much more reasonable and fair or that the negotiate with the GGYC challenge for a protocol similar to this year's. That is what the GGYC challenge is all about.