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Jury dismisses protest over Telefónica sails
The international jury has dismissed a protest regarding Team Telefónica's sails during Leg 4, deciding the original rule was ambiguous and that the team were reasonable in assuming they were in compliance.
PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race
PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race
PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race
PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race
PAUL TODD/Volvo Ocean Race
The case centred around the number of storm jibs each boat can carry during a leg, and whether the wording of 5.2.1 in the Notice of Race which states each team must carry one such sail should be regarded as a minimum number or a maximum number.
Telefónica were originally told that the one storm jib rule was a minimum number, and therefore they could sail with two storm jibs plus the other sails allowed under rule 5.2.2 in the Notice of Race, without going over the maximum number of 10 sails in all categories.
Later, the Race Committee emailed the teams a different interpretation, saying an extra storm jib must be counted among the headsails.
That new interpretation led to a report from the Chief Measurer, saying Telefónica had one too many headsails on Leg 4, even though they were within the maximum number of total sails.
The Jury found that Telefónica had sought clarification over the relevant section of the Notice of Race in an appropriate manner and that, at the time, the Chief Measurer was satisfied that they were in compliance with the rule.
The Jury decided the later interpretation should not be applied retrospectively.
"Telefónica cannot be found to have broken Notice of Race 5.2 during Leg 4," the Jury concluded.
"Protest dismissed."
The independent body of rules experts was chaired by ISAF international judge Bernard Bonneau.
"The decision we made for quite clear for us," said Bonneau. "We found that there was an ambiguity in the rules."
Race director Jack Lloyd, Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez and Chief Measurer Shaun Ritson all gave evidence on Wednesday evening, while Telefónica were represented by legal adviser Luis Sáenz Mariscal.
Mariscal returned on Thursday to hear the verdict directly from the International Jury.
The jury was made up of:
Bernard Bonneau (FRA) Chairman
Peter Shrubb (BER)
Flavio Naveira (ARG)
Chris Atkins (GBR)
John Maccall (ARG)
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Comments
Stop twisting, screwing and squeezing the rules of this great race, in order to satisfy your phobias and frustrations. Stop crying and crying like babies.
http://noticeboard.volvooceanrace.com/wp-content/uploads/VoR-Protest-5-Telefonica.pdf
The International Jury Team has concluded that Telefónica did not commit a failure of Rule 5.2.2 of the Notice of Race for the number of sails used by the team during leg 4 between the Chinese port of Sanya and Auckland in New Zealand. According to Bernard Bonneau, president of the International Jury: "We detected an ambiguity in the application of the rule, which was resolved with an interpretation after the start of leg 4, so that can not be applied retroactively to penalize the boat for breaking it before being interpreted." "The Notice of Race suffered an interpretation concerning the number of storm jibs a ship can take on board while racing," says Luis Sáenz Mariscal, responsible for technical regulation and lawyer Team Telefónica. "To China, the number was considered a minimum, not maximum, and was at the discretion of each team take one or more for safety reasons. We took two on board. The interpretation was amended by the Race Committee after the start of Stage 4 to Auckland, so it can not be applied retroactively against Team Telefónica ".
From the NZ Herald: "We were very disappointed and surprised that the jury took this action," Camper skipper Chris Nicholson said. "It seems unfair to us that we lost leg four by under two minutes to a boat that was breaking the rules and carrying an extra sail than us. It's the equivalent of a golfer carrying an extra club in their bag. "The reality is that Telefonica were given a flawed rule interpretation by the organising authority. That was not communicated to other teams as required by the rules and were, therefore, able to sail with an unfair advantage during the leg. "This is no dark art. There is hard evidence that the type of extra sail that Telefonica carried would have given them a performance advantage. That performance advantage could very easily equate to the 1m 33s margin that Telefonica beat us by into Auckland. "The system has broken down and we are left with no choice but to pursue redress. I think it's clear and obvious what actions the jury needs to take to ensure a fair result in Leg 4. "We have nothing to hide and will be putting our case robustly to the jury.'' Good luck!
It is very clear : - They had the correct amount of sails on board. - The measurer was asked and has approved a 2nd storm jib INSTEAD of a genoa. Case closed. I don't understand why people that have read the verdict are still talking about illegality. It's just another mess created by the Volvo themselves. Let's move fwd. There's a in-port race tomorrow. This case is history, clear and closed.
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