America's Cup showdown looming

The America's Cup is headed for a rare one-on-one showdown in 90-foot multihull boats after a New York State Supreme Court judge sided with a U.S. yacht club Tuesday in a legal battle between billionaires.

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 sometimes can be downright boring.

Judge Herman J. 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.

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 sports.

"I didn't throw the first punch," Bertarelli told The Associated Press 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 2009.

Alinghi gets to chose 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 90 feet on the waterline and 90 feet wide.

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

"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 40-foot 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 2009, 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.

"It's certainly a win for Larry Ellison because for the first time in the many years he's tried to have any success at the America's Cup, he's been able to force himself to a final," Bertarelli said. "He was eliminated once in the semis and last time in the quarterfinals, so this legal strategy paid off for him."

The Deed of Gift is a document from 1887 that helps govern the America's Cup.

In 1988, Dennis Conner turned back a rogue challenge from New Zealand, sailing his catamaran to a two-race victory over the Kiwis' big boat off San Diego. It was such a mismatch that it was called "The Coma Off Point Loma." A two-year court battle followed, with the Cup remaining the property of the San Diego Yacht Club.

Alinghi became the first European-backed boat to win the America's Cup, sweeping Team New Zealand in five races in 2003. Although it represented a landlocked country, Alinghi's key sailors were Kiwis. Alinghi defended the Cup with a 5-2 win over Team New Zealand last summer in Valencia.

While the United States dominated the first 132 years of the America's Cup, a U.S. boat hasn't won it since 1992. American boats have failed to reach the finals of the last three America's Cup regattas.

Two weeks ago, Team New Zealand sued Alinghi in two New York courts in an attempt to recoup tens of millions of euros it says it will lose because the next regatta has been postponed.