Alinghi and BMW Oracle prepare America's Cup summit
Saturday, 22 March 2008
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A roadmap summit to try and settle the next steps in the war-torn America's Cup is to be held in Europe, probably Valencia or Geneva, next week.
Representatives of the Swiss holder, Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi, and the now challenger of record, San Francisco-based Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle, will try to hammer out a deal on the timing of their one-on-one battle.
In some confusing moves since Judge Herman Cahn decreed last week in the New York Supreme Court that Oracle's original choice of a Spanish club as lead challenger was invalid, the bickering has centred on the date for the best of three confrontation in what are still expected to be super catamarans.
Speaking to a legal analyst in the United States, Bertarelli said that if Oracle were to insist on October this year he would default, which would see the 157-year old trophy automatically fall into the hands of the Americans.
Later he said he did not mean he would walk away from the competition and that he was speaking in the heat of the moment. His lawyer, Lucien Mesmejan, then proposed that the match be delayed until at least 1 May 2009 - the base rules require that a northern hemisphere match can only be staged between 1 May and 31 October.
While the defender can choose the venue, the rules allow the challenger to determine the date, with a minimum of 10 months' notice. There had been talks of 1, 3, and 5 October for the three-race schedule. Alinghi says that six months are not enough to build a boat.
Time has already run out on the choice of venue for this year, especially if a boat is to be designed specifically to suit the conditions of an autumn series that could be in Europe but could also be in a Middle East venue like Dubai. The insider joke is that Bertarelli should play a US anti-Castro card and choose Cuba.
It is not expected that Bertarelli, Ellison or even Oracle Racing CEO Russell Coutts would be at the talks next week. If Oracle wants to play hard ball then it could even insist on a series in early July this year.
Both sides have said they do not want to go back to court for a decision, but such is the bad blood between them - Coutts was formerly skipper of Alinghi when winning the Cup from his native New Zealand but was then sidelined by Bertarelli - that little good will can be expected.
Both sides have said that, if they win, there will be a return to a multi-challenge event in 2011 in new 90-foot boats. All the other challengers, including Britain's Origin, led by Sir Keith Mills, have been put in limbo and are in tickover mode. All want to see this private war concluded as quickly as possible so that team members can return to full race preparation and potential sponsors can be given confidence to invest.
But, if Oracle were to win, on or off the water, all bets would be off until a new protocol for America's Cup XXXIV were to be drawn up.
