The protocol for the America’s Cup has been amended after the teams agreed to a blackout sailing period to ensure a level playing field.

The amendment follows a hearing by the anonymous Arbitration Panel for the 35th America’s Cup over the reallocation of the Qualifiers from New Zealand to Bermuda.

Controversy flared last March when Cup organisers moved the Qualifier Series initially allocated to Auckland, causing Team New Zealand to lose government funding for the team and the Qualifier Series believed to be in the vicinity of $25 million.

The loss of a major sponsor triggered a substantial financial and organisational restructuring of the New Zealand team, as well as disrupting plans to launch and build up in New Zealand for the Qualifier Series.

Under the original proposal for the Qualifiers, all teams would have launched and set up their AC50 boats in Auckland and sailed the Qualifiers, with the top four Challengers advancing to the Play-offs, Semi-Finals and Final in Bermuda. Several teams have had their AC50s built in New Zealand and would have been able to commission these in Auckland, before the Qualifiers, with the assistance of their builders.

Team New Zealand took their case to arbitration after losing the Qualifiers with published reports suggesting that the Panel’s decision has “come down heavily” on their side.

The sailing blackout is a compromise hammered out between the teams who opted to move on rather than wait for a decision from the Arbitration Panel, which could have been longer or shorter than the 28 day period.

While Team New Zealand have agreed to the change, they will still find themselves at a significant disadvantage in that their 28-day period will be taken from the time their AC50 is decommissioned in Auckland and recommissioned in Bermuda.