The specific issues to be amended are: 1) Use V5 America’s Cup yachts, with each team permitted to build one new yacht and modify one old yacht up to 50%. 2) All AC 33 competitors agree, by entering AC 32, that in case of winning AC 33 they will use the new Alinghi 90ft design in AC 34, with the final rule to be worked out between Alinghi and the Challenger Commission (CC), which would of course include the current Challenger Of Record (COR), in the meantime, and starting now. 3) The protocol is to be substantially the same as AC 32, but with changes to be negotiated by Alinghi and its defending yacht club, Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) with the CC.

Onorato says the protocol revision should particularly solve the area of most concern of the recent adopted protocol: SNG’s unilateral ability, through Amarica’s Cup Management (ACM), to disqualify a challenging team, in particular for disputing any provision in the protocol; ACM’s ability to accept not all otherwise valid challengers, ACM’s ability to unilaterally reject a challenging team; appointment of the arbitration panel and jury by the defender and COR only and their ability to dismiss the members of the panel and jury at will; ACM’s exclusive power to appoint race committee, measurement committee, umpires and any other event officials; ACM’s powers and rights which far exceed the position of any defender in the past, including the power to impose a penalty to competitors; ACM’s power to ‘unilaterally’ establish the rules for the all the events, including the Challenger Selection Series (CSS), the lack of any accountability by either ACM or COR to the challengers and the absence of any requirement of neutral management, the participation of the defender in the CSS.

These demands should give Ellison – and the head of TEAMORIGIN, Sir Keith Mills - a bit of a boost. Ellison is currently fighting a one-man battle against Ernesto Bertarelli over the size of each other’s… er… wallet?

While Sir Keith Mills will be pleased to hear the V5 boats will be used, having bought an old Alinghi just before Bertarelli announced he was to sail the next AC in completely different boats.

So that’s probably half a million Sir Keith hasn’t wasted after all…