Golden Gate Yacht Club v Société Nautique de Genève (No 2) – Supreme Court of the State of New York (Kornreich J) – 29 July 2009

America’s Cup – Challenger complaining that defender changed rules without its consent – Whether rule change lawful – Defender complaining that challenger should be disqualified for failing to provide Custom House Registry of challenging vessel “as soon as possible” after Notice of Challenge – Whether challenger should be disqualified

The plaintiff (“Golden Gate”) was the challenger for the next America’s Cup race due to be held off Valencia in February 2010. The defendant (“SNG”) was the defender. Golden Gate provided its Notice of Challenge to SNG on 11 July 2007. Pursuant to the competition’s Deed of Gift, the Notice of Challenge included a certificate as to the name, rig and dimensions of the challenging vessel and stated that the Custom House Registry (“CHR”) of the challenging vessel would be sent as soon as possible, as required by the Deed of Gift.