Federal Judiciary

‘HAVING’ REGATTAS
By Mark Thompson
markthomp@yahoo.com
Posted 08-06-08

New York County Justice Herman Cahn relied on “strained English usage” to misinterpret the phrase “having for its annual regatta,” according to a divided panel of the Appellate Division. Three of the five judges on the panel voted to reverse Cahn’s ruling, which had invalidated the upcoming 33rd America’s Cup yacht race. Cahn ruled that the upstart Spanish challenger didn’t qualify as a contender under the terms of the New York charitable trust, which determines who can hold the cup and who can challenge to win it.

To hear the plaintiff in the suit, a yacht club from San Francisco, tell it, Cahn’s ruling kept a couple of conniving European yachting organizations from subverting the purposes of the charitable trust. But the Appellate Division majority ruled that Cahn had no basis for preventing the Swiss yacht club, which is the current two-time defender of the cup, from proceeding to organize the next challenge series with a newly formed club from the Valencia region of Spain. Golden Gate Yacht Club v Societe Nautique de Geneve (July 29) 

Full post as published by Judicial Reports on August 06, 2008 (boomark / email).