Yachting: Sport court puts yachtsmen's Olympics bid back on track

By JULIE ASH

The New Zealand Sports Disputes Tribunal has has had its first decision overruled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The court's panel of Australian Alan Sullivan, QC, and two New Zealanders - former chief justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum and David Williams, QC - last night overturned the decision of the tribunal, allowing Yachting New Zealand's (YNZ) original Olympic nominations in the Laser and 470 men's class to stand.

The ruling means that Hamish Pepper will now go forward as YNZ's Olympic nomination in the Laser class and Andrew Brown and Jamie Hunt in the men's 470 class.

The CAS has yet to give its reasons for the decision and costs have still to be decided.

YNZ chief executive Simon Wickham said the decision was a major step forward for Pepper, Hunt and Brown, whose Olympic campaigns had been thrown into disarray.

"I think it certainly has reinforced our view that our selectors have followed our policy correctly and interpreted it correctly."

YNZ had nominated Pepper and Brown and Hunt after they won their classes at the Olympic trials.

But Laser sailor Andrew Murdoch, who finished second to Pepper in the trials, and 470 sailors Simon Cooke and Alistair Gair, who finished third in the trials, appealed to the tribunal, arguing that Pepper's and Brown and Hunt's results last year had not fulfilled one of YNZ's criteria: that crews had to show they could finish in the top 10 in Athens.

In its first case the tribunal upheld those appeals and directed YNZ to reopen the nomination process for those classes.

YNZ then went to CAS appealing the tribunal's decision.

Lawyer Richard Brabant, representing Murdoch, Cooke and Gair, said the key point in the wrangle was how the criteria were interpreted.

"Was it performance-based criteria or could a whole lot of opinions about future performances and how people might improve before the Olympics - was that to be taken into account?

"Overseas they are now looking at results from the major regattas as the only way in which they choose sailors and maybe that is a question for the future. We in New Zealand have ended up with a double arrangement with the first past the post with something laid on top of it."

YNZ argued a number of factors were taken into consideration by its selection panel, made up of experienced yachtsmen Grant Beck, Glen Sowry and Terry Nicholas.

"You don't want to be just performance-based, as Ian Thorpe in swimming has pointed out," Wickham said.

"The risk of being purely objective-based is that you miss out on potentially your best athletes going to the Games. Our intention was to have a very objective way to choose someone ... and that was the trial system.

"You had to win the trials first, then the selectors made a subjective decision in regards to whether they believed that the person would finish in the top 10 . That is why we had a selection panel."

THE STORY SO FAR

Hamish Pepper wins the Laser class Olympic trials ahead of Andrew Murdoch. Jamie Hunt and Andrew Brown win the 470 class, Simon Cooke and Alistair Gair finish third.

Murdoch, Cooke and Gair appeal to the New Zealand Sports Disputes Tribunal arguing that Pepper's and Brown and Hunt's results last year had not fulfilled one of YNZ's criteria.

The tribunal upholds those appeals.

YNZ appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

CAS sets aside the tribunal's decision and restores the nominations.