Three people and a secretary. That's all that stands between order and chaos at the world's oldest international sporting trophy.
The Arbitration Panel for the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup has been confirmed, an independent judicial body that will oversee disputes throughout the competition. With no external international federation governing the event, the panel carries more weight than equivalent structures in most other major sports. Over the years it has dealt with everything from yacht design compliance and sailor eligibility to confidential design disputes, venue disagreements, and commercial conflicts between teams and organisers. Many regard it as the Supreme Court of what can be a contentious event, as much off the water as on.
Henry Peter, a Swiss and French lawyer and emeritus professor at the University of Geneva, has been involved in America's Cup judicial structures since the 31st Cup and chaired the panel for the 33rd. Since 2000 he has co-authored and edited six books on the event. His practice covers corporate and sports law, and he sits as Vice-chairman of the Swiss Stock Exchange Sanctions Commission.
Australian David Tillett AM has attended eight America's Cups across more than three decades, starting in 1992. A Member of the Order of Australia and recipient of the Australian Sports Medal for Services to Yachting in 2000, Tillett chaired the Arbitration Panel at both the 2019 and 2024 editions, and was Chairman of the 36th Cup panel. He spent twelve years chairing the World Sailing Racing Rules Committee and eighteen years on the World Sailing Council, was inducted into the South Australian Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, and received the World Sailing Beppe Croce Trophy in 2022 for outstanding voluntary contribution to the sport.
New Zealand's Graham McKenzie completes the three-member panel. A barrister and solicitor with a Master of Laws from Warwick University, McKenzie has been part of America's Cup judicial structures since the 32nd edition and was a member of the panel for the 36th Cup. He is a long-standing member of the New Zealand Law Society Disciplinary Tribunal, chairs the Kartsport New Zealand Appeals Board, and is a former chair of both the World Sailing Constitution Committee and its Ethics Commission.
The credentials are serious. So is the job.
Serving as Secretary is French lawyer Claire Mordelet, admitted to the Paris and New York bars, whose practice focuses on international commercial and sports law arbitration. She held the same role at the 33rd and 36th Cup panels. The four of them, quietly, keep the whole show on the rails.
