The Cup sailors call him "God", his friends just call him Harold. New Zealander Harold Bennett is on duty for the third time as a rules keeper in the America's Cup. For the second time as race officer. The teams have to accept his decisions without any ifs or buts.
Harold Bennett immediately clears up the first misunderstanding: No, he is not an employee of Alinghi's club Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) or its race committee for the 33rd America's Cup. He is working on behalf of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and is acting as a neutral decision-making body to ensure that the America's Cup races off Valencia are organised properly.
In view of the cancellations made so far, one might think that Mr Bennett is unemployed. But the opposite is the case. Bennett and his team rack their brains every day to find out under what conditions they can send the fragile multihull giants out to sea. Or not. So far, after intensive consultations with the Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing weather teams and their own analyses on the computer and in the 450 square nautical mile area itself, they have always come to the same conclusion: too dangerous or too unstable and therefore unfair!
Does the weather data sent to him daily by the weather teams of both teams coincide? Bennett laughs: "No!" That would have been nothing short of a miracle. But Bennett continues: "It's my job to assess the information, compare it with information from other sources and make decisions."
Bennett's main problem is that the courses specified by the Cup foundation charter for this exceptional Cup edition must offer consistently fair and safe conditions over a length of 20 (!) and 39 (!) nautical miles. This requirement seems like squaring the circle. Sometimes the wind is too strong, sometimes too weak. Sometimes the waves are too high, sometimes too rough. If the conditions on the starting boat are perfect, they can be unacceptable at the turning mark 20 nautical miles further on. Wind shifts of more than 30 degrees are also not permitted. But who wants to rule them out over 20 nautical miles? Races over two or three nautical mile long up and down courses, as recently completed in the America's Cup, could have taken place off Valencia long ago. Even sailing a ten nautical mile course would not have been a problem on Wednesday. But 20 nautical miles was too much!
This explains the skewed picture that many observers and fans gained on Wednesday. Dream sailing conditions prevailed in the America's Cup harbour. A marvellous 17, 18 knots of wind. The swell in front of the harbour seemed moderate. Many wondered why on earth the duel of all duels had to be postponed again when at the same time small dinghies were turning up outside and their crews were clearly enjoying the conditions. Bennett had the explanation ready: "We went out to sea ourselves. It was lovely for the first ten nautical miles, then it got really uncomfortable. The boats we're dealing with here can't withstand such rigorous conditions."
When asked whether the teams should not have built boats other than their Formula 1 racing cars in view of the offshore courses to be sailed, Bennett nods with a smile and says: "Of course!" At the same time, he knows that nobody can turn back time and expect Cup teams to build seaworthy multihulls for a high-tech speed competition. Bennett always has to consider the safety of sailors and boats when making decisions. His forecast for the opening match, which has been postponed to Friday: "I don't have any precise data yet, but I have heard that we may have to deal with extreme conditions again." The wait in Valencia is therefore likely to continue for quite some time. The pressure grows with every postponement, but Bennett feels that he is well able to cope with it: "I said from the start that everyone involved would have to be patient. I make all decisions as I see fit. That's the best I can do." Well done, Bennett.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
