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America's Cup headed for showdown

Alinghi owner Ernesto Bertarelli, left, congratulates Oracle owner Larry Ellison after Oracle won the UBS Trophy series in Newport, Rhode Island, on June 26, 2004. PHOTO: AP

The America's Cup is headed for a rare one-on-one showdown in 27m multihull boats after a New York State Supreme Court judge sided with a US yacht club in a legal battle between billionaires on Tuesday.

Despite months of rhetoric and rancor, both sides said it could be one of the most exciting matchups in the 157-year history of a sport that can sometimes be downright boring.

Judge Herman Cahn refused to hear new arguments from two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland, letting stand his November order that San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club was the rightful Challenger of Record, not a Spanish club that had been chosen by the Swiss cupholder.

Golden Gate backs BMW Oracle Racing, which is headed by Silicon Valley maverick Larry Ellison.

Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli said he would not appeal and plans to face BMW Oracle Racing in a best-of-three showdown for the oldest trophy in international sport.

"I didn't throw the first punch," Bertarelli said by phone from Switzerland. "I'm waiting to be on the water to do that."

BMW Oracle Racing spokesman Tom Ehman said his syndicate feels it has the right to hold the regatta in October. Alinghi is pushing for July next year.

Alinghi gets to choose the venue, which can be anywhere in the northern hemisphere. Valencia, Spain, site of last year's America's Cup, is an option, or it could be in another European port.

When BMW Oracle Racing submitted its challenge in July, shortly after Alinghi defeated Team New Zealand in the 32nd America's Cup, it gave the dimensions for a boat that will be 27m on the waterline and 27m wide.

"We are building such a yacht," Ehman said by telephone from Valencia, declining to say whether it's a catamaran or trimaran that's under construction in Anacortes, Washington.

"For all we know they've been building for sometime," Ehman said. "We have no evidence that they have not started."

Bertarelli said Alinghi hasn't started building a boat. However, the syndicate's multinational crew already has been training in 12m catamarans in Valencia.

"The big picture is, this could be the most exciting America's Cup match in modern times, if not ever, in these maxi multihulls," Ehman said.

Alinghi had a good case for appeal, "but it's just going to drag on," Bertarelli said. "At the end of the day, everybody wants to see it settled on the water. We're confident we have a strong team. We won the America's Cup twice, we can win it three times."

America's Cup Management announced last year that it was postponing the next America's Cup regatta, which had been set for next year, because of the legal skirmish.

"I'm disappointed for the other teams that won't be able to participate this time around," Bertarelli said. "On the other hand, multihull is what I started with as a competitive sailor, so I'm ready. I think it'll be different. It think it will be exciting. The boats are going to be gigantic. I think it will be fun."

As Challenger of Record, BMW Oracle Racing had the right to help negotiate terms of a traditional America's Cup regatta with Alinghi. When that didn't happen, a one-on-one showdown, or Deed of Gift Match, was the next option.
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