Skip America's Cup meeting, Kiwis told
Regatta boss Coutts calls Team New Zealand to not come to London gathering after they expressed dissatisfaction with 'published protocol'
If America's Cup challengers are to get on the same tack as defending champions Oracle Team USA heading into the next regatta, they will do so without Emirates Team New Zealand - at least for the time being.
It's quite obvious the whole reason we're having a meeting is we don't agree on everything, especially everything that we as defender are proposing
America's Cup boss Russell Coutts said he told the Kiwis not to come to a meeting in London on Tuesday at which competitors would try to hash out differences after a week of bruising publicity.
Coutts is chief executive of Oracle Team USA and head of the America's Cup Event Authority.
He said the event authority was working with the teams "to further define an event based on the published protocol". Coutts said that after he heard from another team the Kiwis did not want to proceed on that basis, "I rang them up and said, 'It's best that you not come.' We have four other challenging teams and the defender that want to work together to have a great event this time and in the future."
Scheduled to attend the meeting are Britain's Ben Ainslie Racing, Sweden's Artemis Racing, Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge and Team France.
Those four syndicates issued a statement expressing support for the America's Cup following the withdrawal of an Australian syndicate that was serving as Challenger of Record. Team New Zealand were not included in the statement.
The withdrawal of Hamilton Island Yacht Club on July 18 was the first public sign of dissatisfaction among challengers regarding the cost, rules and location of the 2017 regatta. Hamilton Island negotiated the protocol with Coutts.