It’s Official

Yesterday the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court upheld an earlier decision by the state’s Court of Appeals that — barring an unlikely mutual consent agreement — Alinghi must meet BMW Oracle Racing for a Deed of Gift America’s Cup match on February 7 or 8 of next year. In addition, Justice Shirley Warner Kornreich directed the following: 1) BMW Oracle Racing must provide Alinghi the Certificate of Documentation for their monster trimaran — if indeed that’s the boat they’ll be challenging with — as soon as possible, and that it must conform to both the team’s notice of challenge and the Deed of Gift; 2) Alinghi must provide six months notice as to the venue for the match; and 3) that both parties quickly select a mediator and begin mediation to reach an agreement on the "sailing" issues of the match. While we’d be surprised if there wasn’t more intrigue in the mediation phase, the decision makes it clear that, come the middle of February, this chapter of AC history will finally have a conclusion.