It was a furious exchange of letters - of which XPRESS has obtained copies - earlier this month between Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG) for Alinghi and the Golden Gate Yacht Club for Oracle that finally ended hopes of any reconciliation.
The dispute now faces a court hearing on October 27, and prompted yesterday's submission by Khater Massaad, the CEO of the RAK Investment Authority.
The "friend of the court brief" filed with the New York State Supreme Court responded to BMW Oracle Racing's motion asking a judge to reject RAK as the port for the races beginning on February 8.
Letter
On October 4, Fred Meyer, Vice-Commodore of SNG, wrote to Marcus Young, Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club:
"Your concerns as to safety of the venue are unfounded.
"Other international sports take place safely in the country: Tiger Woods plays every year in the UAE and is designing a course in Dubai. ATP and WTA have tennis tournaments in Dubai. Crime statistics demonstrate that the venue is far safer for members of your team than your own city. Your complaints are again self-serving and not truly held by you. SNG expects you to race the match at the selected venue, or forfeit."
Response
Four days later Young responded: "We reject each and every one of the irresponsible assertions you made in your October 4 letter. The fact that there has been yacht racing, or other sports events, in Dubai, or that companies including two of our team's title partners do business in the UAE, is well documented. RAK, however, is not Dubai. For you to suggest that it is indicates that you have been badly briefed or worse.
"[The letter] is yet another disheartening example of SNG's reckless disregard for the America's Cup Deed of Gift.
"We note the court has already set a hearing on October 27 and we hope the matter will be quickly resolved."
In its court motion, filed on October 2, BMW Oracle Racing cited "grave safety concerns" for its US-based crew sailing a massive trimaran close to Iran.
But Massaad countered yesterday: "If we perceived even the slightest threat to the security and success of the 33rd America's Cup, we would not have pursued this opportunity, as RAK stands to lose the most."
He also noted that Oracle's Middle East headquarters is located within a 45-minute drive of the America's Cup venue, and that BMW Oracle Racing is scheduled to compete in the Dubai RC44 Gold Cup next month. WITH INPUTS FROM sail-world.com
