America's Cup start under threat Like ETNZ, Luna Rossa agreed to 35 of the 37 recommendations made by Murray to improve safety but refused to agree to the need to extend rudder elevators and increase displacement on the boats since they claimed they were performance-related and not necessary to ensure safety. "Luna Rossa considers that, by issuing these documents, the Regatta Director has blatantly breached the rules governing the 34th America's Cup and has exceeded his jurisdiction and authority," a statement from Luna Rossa read earlier this week. Murray has denied he was changing the rules to favour Oracle Team USA but the peculiar format of the America's Cup, where the winner assumes responsibilities as organisers, lends itself to abuse with resulting cynicism over level playing fields and accusations of cheating going back as far as 1895. "On a personal level, I have to say I find it upsetting when people say these safety recommendations aren't for safety but to increase the performance of one team," Murray said. The implication is that I'm doing this to favour Oracle Team USA. That's an attack on my character and I don't accept that. Quite frankly I find it insulting. This spat is the latest in a long list of controversies to hit this America's Cup, and on top of the debacle Deed of Gift match between Oracle and Alinghi in the 33rd Cup in 2010, has contributed to a dramatic fall in grace for the once coveted trophy. When the Auld Mug was won by American billionaire Larry Ellison, the plans for his defence were grander than ever, designed to appeal to the "Facebook" rather than the "Flintstone'generation as his CEO Russell Coutts famously said three years ago. Out went the old-fashioned monohulls, soft sails and big race courses some way off the shore where no one could see them and in came a fleet of high speed AC72 catamarans with carbon wings that would make them go even faster. A fleet of up to 15 boats would be raced on tight courses in harbours in front of large crowds and a battery of television cameras that would capture the thrill and excitement of the action like never before. Race crews would feature the best sailors in the world, hence the rush to get British sailor Sir Ben Ainslie on board Oracle Team USA as soon as his fourth Olympic gold medal was in the bag. The venue would be San Francisco which following a major multi million dollar investment in a new waterfront development using tax payers money, would welcome plane loads of visitors from around the world and receive a massive boost to the local economy. The reality has proved much less grand. The high cost of producing such technically advanced boats - around £80 million each - and relatively little time for development, has produced just three challengers, two of them Artemis and Luna Rossa funded by billionaires and one, ETNZ, by sponsors and government money. As a result, organisers scaled back plans across the board, making huge redundancies and downgrading budgets due to the lack of interest among sponsors and broadcasters. San Francisco tax payers launched a petition protesting the public bill that Ellison, the fifth richest man in America and a San Francisco resident was reluctant to foot. Tradesmen working on the waterfront redevelopment saw their bills go unpaid by the event organisers which raised another petition and more protests. And then there was the tragic Artemis accident involving Simpson, the second AC72 capsize since they were launched last November. Despite investigations, no explanation has been given for the accident. Artemis will not race until August, leaving the Kiwis and the Italians to slug it out in a hugely reduced racing schedule through July and August in the Louis Vuitton Cup. Instead of 21 races in July, there will now be just five two hour races starting on Sunday which has forced organisers to issue refunds to ticket holders. Artemis is set to return for the Louis Vuitton semi-finals starting on August 6 which will be the best of seven one hour races while the Louis Vuitton Cup finals will be best of 13 with two 30 minute races per day starting on August 17. The winner will progress to the America's Cup match against Cup holders Oracle Team USA in a best of 17 series, comprising two 30 minute races each day starting on September 7th.