Challenged

By now you know that SAYC’s Anarchy Challenge entry for the 33rd Cup was turned down by Ernesto Bertarelli and the ACM/Alinghi people, though we STILL have not received any official correspondance from that austere body. Apparently they were too busy working on their masterpiece, the new 33rd Protocol for the America’s Cup, which was released on Friday.

Despite lip service from various Challengers proclaiming how much headway they’d made in Geneva, the new version changes very little from the old one, and even provides some new unilateral powers to Alinghi while adding in some specific clauses designed to keep BMW/Oracle from sneaking in under another team’s entry. If you really want to see what happens when a fox is guarding the hen house, compare the 33rd Protocol to the 32nd, 31st, and 30th and join the discussion here.

While Alinghi was sending out press releases, the Anarchists were busily proving what a powerful idea Anarchy Challenge is, spreading the word about the Challenge, desiging logos, developing funding, legal and PR plans, recruiting supporters, and even building an unofficial website that is damned funny!

The Swiss may keep us out of this one, but a true grass roots America’s Cup team is an idea whose time is coming, and this massive community is the tool that will make it happen. If you support Anarchy Challenge, tell the world by signing this online petition, and forwarding it to everyone you know. Our voices will be heard!