America's Cup continues to be contested in court

In a move to outflank the hostile challenge of Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle, America's Cup holder Ernesto Bertarelli says it is to lodge a new petition with the Appellate Division of the New York Court before a decision on the date for a one-on-one clash is handed down by the Supreme Court.

Judge Herman Cahn was expected to hand down a ruling on a date, expected to be early October, in the next few days. But the Swiss holder's Alinghi syndicate wants to delay the event as much as possible, claiming it cannot build a new 90-foot multihull in time even though the legal challenge from Ellison started last July.

Bertarellli's representative club, the Societe Nautique de Geneve, and his lead lawyer, Lucien Masmejan, claim that Ellison's Golden Gate Yacht Club is being intransigent and that their motive in going to the Appellate Division is "to obtain a swift resolution in the current uncertainty."

Whether this will prevent Judge Cahn continuing with handing down a judgement and whether that would stop the clock is not known, but Masmejan believes that, if the Apellate Court handed down a decision in June, that would put the Cup back until after May 2009.

"Our sole objective is to race in a competitive match," he said. "We have stated our desire for a fight on the water some time after 2009 but GGYC continues with the destructive strategy that has already eliminated other challengers.

"They also refuse to provide the required information on their boat so, in order to have a competition in 2009 worthy of the America's Cup, GGYC's obstructive tactics leave us no choice but to appeal to achieve our objective."