KEY POINTS:
VALENCIA - Italian team Mascalzone Latino have been ordered to resail their round robin match against Desafio Espanol in the Louis Vuitton Cup after the race jury found they were in breach of America's Cup class yacht rules.
Mascalzone, who beat the Spanish outfit yesterday (NZT), were also fined 10,000 euros ($18,730) for illegal use of the backstays on their yacht.
The two teams are both battling it out for a place in the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, with the eventual winners of the trophy earning the right to challenge Alinghi for the America's Cup.
The Italians acknowledged they had stowed the backstays alongside the mast during two of the upwind legs of the race to avoid drag and had then set them up before the final run to support the top mast.
America's Cup rules state that the backstays should remain permanently attached to their fixing points throughout the race.
Desafio had asked the jury to disqualify Mascalzone and award the points from the match to their team, but the Italians argued that the error did not influence the result of the race, which they won by 11 seconds.
Arrangements for the resail will be announced later today.
- REUTERS