Deed of Gift

Deed of Gift
Created	July 8, 1857 (original) February 2, 1882 (amended) October 24, 1887 (amended) December 17, 1956 (amended) April 5, 1985 (amended)
Location	Albany, New York
Authors	George L. Schuyler
Purpose	Promote friendly competition among nations

The Deed of Gift is the primary instrument that governs the rules to make a valid challenge for the America's Cup and the rules of conduct of the races. The current version of the Deed of Gift is the third revision of the original Deed. The original Deed was written in 1852 and forwarded to the New York Yacht Club on July 8, 1857.

Brief history

The surviving members of the syndicate which owned the yacht America, the first winner of the America's Cup (née “Royal Yacht Squadron Cup” or the “RYS Cup for One Hundred Sovereigns”),^{[citation needed]} donated the Cup through a Deed of Gift to the New York Yacht Club on July 8, 1857. The Cup would be held in trust as a “challenge trophy" to promote friendly competition among nations, with the Deed of Gift being the primary instrument governing the rules to make a valid challenge for the America’s Cup and the rules of conduct of the races.

After the 1881 Cup match, the New York Yacht Club officially returned the Cup to George L. Schuyler, the sole surviving member of the syndicate that owned America to rewrite the deed to discourage inland-based yacht clubs from challenging the Cup.^{[citation needed]} This revised Deed incorporated, among other things, the following rules: the challenger’s yacht club's annual regatta must take place on the sea or on an arm of the sea, and the challenging boat must sail to the site of the contest on her own bottom, as the yacht America did when first winning the cup in England.

In 1887, the challenging yacht’s hull was much longer than originally stated by the challenger, a potential advantage. The difference alarmed the N.Y.Y.C., but they rectified the situation by handicapping the challenger. Although the N.Y.Y.C. successfully defended the Cup that year, the problem spurred them to rewrite the Deed. Once again the club officially returned the Cup to Schuyler. The third Deed is much longer and couched in legal terminology; it is unlikely that Mr. Schuyler himself authored the document.^{[citation needed]} The third Deed tightened the rules for challenging; for example, it stated explicitly that the challenger must not exceed the dimensions provided to the holder of the Cup. The new version of the rules created an uproar among many British yachtsmen, who claimed that the new rules made it impossible to challenge. No one challenged until six years later, when a British lord set forth his first of two challenges.

After the Second World War, the N.Y.Y.C. amended the Deed by changing the requirement regarding waterline length: the minimum waterline length was reduced from 65 feet (20 m) to 44 feet (13 m) to allow the use of the 12-metre class. In addition, the rule that the challenging boat had to sail on her own bottom to the site of the match was eliminated, permitting boats to be shipped to the venue without requiring them to be able to sail across oceans (or contain living accommodations).

In 1985 a second amendment was made to allow for matches to take place during an antipodean summer.

Interpretation

The Deed of Gift is a registered Trust document in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Albany, New York. An interpretation of the document, when contested, can be taken before that Court for clarification on whether the Deed of Gift's terms and conditions (as written by George L. Schuyler) are being met.

There have been two instances of litigation regarding interpretation. The first concerned the challenge for the 1988 America's Cup, where the question was first, whether the Mercury Bay Boating Club was a valid challenger and if the San Diego Yacht Club had to accept their challenge; and second, whether the Defender's boat (a catamaran) complied with the terms of the Deed of Gift. The answer was yes to both questions.

The second concerned Société Nautique de Genève, the defender of the 2010 America's Cup, where the question was whether a valid challenge could be accepted by the defender from a club that had not previously had an annual regatta on an ocean water course or an arm of the sea. The court's answer was no. There were a number of additional issues raised regarding the type of boat to be used, the venue and other issues which were put to the court by the court adjudicated valid challenger Golden Gate Yacht Club. All were upheld by the court with the exception of two issues which were open and still awaiting court decisions even after the completion of the 2010 America's Cup races.

External links

• Works related to America's Cup Deed of Gift with amendments and interpretive resolutions at Wikisource