Any organized Yacht Club of a foreign country, incorporated, patented, or licensed by the legislature, admiralty, or other executive department, having for its annual regatta an ocean water course on the sea, or on an arm of the sea, or one which combines both, shall always be entitled to the right of sailing a match of this Cup, with a yacht or vessel propelled by sails only and constructed in the country to which the Challenging Club [Challenger of Record] belongs, against any one yacht or vessel constructed in the country of the Club holding the Cup.
According to this guy, "having an annual regatta" means that the regatta has happened in the past and will continue to happen in the future. I agree. When I discussed this earlier, I noted that the important part of the dispute between GGYC and SNG/CNEV was whether their Optimist regatta would be sufficient to comply with the Deed of Gift's requirement of "having an annual regatta."Having read many court opinions over the last four years, I am glad to see that Justice Cahn's opinion is clearly written and leaves no doubt as to the result.
"The court concludes that CNEV's challenge is invalid, and that GGYC is Challenger of Record pursuant to the Deed."
It's time for a yacht race.
2 comments:
There's an interesting subtlety in Justice Cahn's interpretation of what "having an annual regatta" means. In his written judgment he says the the phrase implies "that the organization has had one or more regattas in the past, and will continue to have them in the future". (My emphasis.)
So he is saying that if you hold only one regatta and have a genuine intention to have it again in future years, then you are "having an annual regatta".
Future challengers using token yacht clubs may want to consider this point carefully. Apparently one regatta before the challenge is alll you need.
Good point.
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