Luna Rossa confirmed that it would not race in Sunday's scheduled America's Cup opener against Emirates Team New Zealand on San Francisco Bay, the Italians boycotting in a rules protest.
Paul Campbell-James, helmsman for Luna Rossa Challenge 2013, checks the steering after a news conference in Alameda, California, on May 17, 2013. Luna Rossa confirmed on Saturday that it would not race in Sunday's scheduled America's Cup opener against Emirates Team New Zealand on San Francisco Bay, the Italians boycotting in a rules protest.
Luna Rossa does not plan to race on San Francisco Bay in the Louis Vuitton Cup until an international jury rules on its protest against a last-minute change to a rudder design rule, a decision expected to come down on Monday.
"Luna Rossa Challenge 2013 confirms that it will not race against Emirates Team New Zealand on the 7th of July," Luna Rossa said in a statement, released on Saturday.
"As already informally stated in the last few days, Luna Rossa is waiting for the International Jury decision on its protest against the measures introduced by the Regatta Director."
Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa, rivals in the challenger battle to select an opponent for defender Oracle in September's America's Cup races, argue that regatta director Iain Murray exceeded his authority to impose some of the 37 safety rules made in the wake of British sailor Andrew Simpson's death in May.
"This isn't unexpected but it is still disappointing," America's Cup chief executive officer Stephen Barclay said.
"It's a case of won't race, not can't race."
Simpson died in a training accident in which the AC72 catamaran of Swedish syndicate Artemis Racing capsized, and Murray has held firm that rule changes aimed at preventing another such tragedy were within his authority.
Artemis will miss early rounds of racing as it recovers from the accident, so losing yet another race to forfeit has diminished the excitement organisers had hoped to build this month in qualifying for next month's Challenge finals.
"The people really hurt by this are the fans, who have waited for over two years to see the first race in these spectacular AC72 catamarans," Barclay said.
"This is particularly disappointing considering Luna Rossa was out sailing on the race course on Saturday."
"What I don't understand is they sailed (Saturday), they say they will sail if they win or lose the protest, but they just won't sail against Emirates Team New Zealand on Sunday."
The Kiwi boat will need to sail the course alone to collect the first point in the qualifying, with skipper Dean Barker saying Friday that, "Whether Luna Rossa decides to race or not, we will be out there."
Rivals have complained that Oracle was handed an advantage by the rudder design rule change because it has trained with the new design.
The catamaran Artemis is working to complete is designed to meet the changed rule and will be out of compliance if Luna Rossa's protest is upheld, delivering yet another setback to the Swedish squad.
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