Jury Lays Groundwork For Hearing

At an International Jury procedural hearing on Wednesday evening, Team Dennis Conner said it intends to call Sean Reeves, among others, as witnesses in its Rule 2 – Fair Sailing - protest against OneWorld. Reeves has been at the centre of the OneWorld controversy since the team split with its former attorney, rules advisor and operations manager in May 2001.

Since then, Reeves has accused OneWorld of numerous America’s Cup Protocol breaches, while the team has won a judgement in United States Federal Court that Reeves wrongfully breached his obligations to OneWorld by retaining and disclosing the team’s confidential information. OneWorld has also won a permanent court injunction against Reeves, barring him from making any further disclosures.

The Team Dennis Conner protest against OneWorld will be heard by the International Jury after the end of the Quarter Final Repechage. At Wednesday night’s hearing, the Jury instructed Team Dennis Conner to come up with more specific charges against OneWorld, and to provide a full witness list by Thursday evening. Both parties were informed by the Jury that any evidence from Decision 8 of the America’s Cup Arbitration Panel can not be used in this protest. Arbitration Panel Decision 8 previously penalised OneWorld one point in the Round Robins of the Louis Vuitton Cup for admitted Protocol breaches.

OneWorld made numerous procedural requests to the Jury that will be considered before the hearing. No specific schedule for the protest has been set yet.