Indio

The Challengers had no say in the matter: it's in the Protocol negotiated with the CoR which they accepted as a condition of their individual challenges. It actually makes sense for unanimous agreement by all competitors to any changes. Removes the autocratic ability of the previous defender to change rules on the fly..

This will be the come-back from hell if they get up and win the AC to reclaim the Auld Mug. The entire team will be feted for years and should be rewarded financially as well. I wonder if they're sneaking in some newer mods under cover of the repairs. Really looking forward to a successful re-launch of Patriot.

Any changes require unanimous consent by all 4 competitors. Any proposed changes to the CSS requires agreement by the Defenders. If AM and Team Brexit were to train together, the litigious Italians will probably protest them anyway

And as Muldoon said, raised the IQ of both countries

Those AM boys should slow down a bit or the Italians will protest them for working too hard!!

Not from inside a cell..

Ellison quit after getting whipped in AC35 because he knew he could never win in a fair AC, where he has to go through a Challenger Selection Series. He fluked into winning AC33 because Bertarelli got too smart for his own good and gave Ellison the loophole which he gladly used to get the Dog Match. Otherwise, he'll still be trying and losing at the CSS stage.

They're all rubbing the butts against the wall!! WTF do you think they're doing??

You've got it the wrong way around. The restriction is on testing against a surrogate yacht which is defined in the Protocol. The restriction survives right through to confirmation of the Challenger. The Defender and Challenger may then agree to rescind the restriction and test with the vanquished competitor's "surrogate" yacht. In previous AC's one of the defeated Challengers has helped prepare the Challenger for the Match, the most recent being AC35 where OR-Xerox practised with OR-JPN for the Match. In these earlier ACs, there may not have been any restriction on surrogate yachts in the current edition but even if they did, the two opponents in the Match could easily agree to waive any rules.

Not necessarily "much higher requirement": they just had more power on tap to do what they wanted, and doing them faster.

Considering Max's initial dismissive comments about Am and Team Brexit's B2s, they must be getting a bit fed up looking up the sterns of both.

Well, there is restriction in the Protocol over testing with a surrogate yacht (a defined term), so I'm guessing there would need to be agreement by both the crowned Challenger and Defender to rescind that restriction, in which case ETNZ will tune up with both Ineos and AM if LR is the Challenger (fuck hope not!!)

The Frenchies initially offered some material but after consulting their benefactors (OR-Xerox), they demanded Є300,000 for them. Only Sir Ben stepped up and provided materials and other help - which I believe Dalts repaid by helping them with their "FCS problem".

I knew someone was going to throw up Bermuda , but they were a third-party host. The real ones in charge were OR-Xerox and they had their own reasons for the way they acted in response to ETNZ's flip. They may have offered help - or not.

The 1-design FCS can be modified under approval. The Class Rules are your friend...