Judge to consider rules in America's Cup case

Boats likely to have engines

America's Cup champion Alinghi of Switzerland is not in contempt of a New York court.

US challenger BMW Oracle Racing is not going to get tossed out of what could be the most spectacular showdown in the 158-year history of sailing's marquee event.

That much is certain after the latest legal showdown between the bitter, bickering rivals, who in February will face off for the oldest trophy in international sports in two of the fastest, most-powerful sailboats ever built.

And when the best-of-3 showdown begins, there could very well be a first in America's Cup history - engines that would be used to trim the enormous sails and move water ballast on the rival multihulls. Alinghi has chosen a catamaran and BMW Oracle Racing a trimaran; both are 90 feet long and can sail 2 to 2½ times the speed of the wind.

Those were the latest developments in the convoluted, two-year legal tiff that has kept the syndicates' lawyers as busy as the sailors.

At the end of an hour-long hearing today (NZ time), Justice Shirley Kornreich of the Supreme Court of the State of New York said she would reserve a decision on rules clarifications sought by BMW Oracle Racing, the San Francisco-based syndicate owned by Silicon Valley maverick Larry Ellison.

Lawyers expect a ruling in 10 to 14 days.

Kornreich said BMW Oracle Racing doesn't have to immediately give Alinghi a measurement document for the trimaran known as BOR 90 that's currently undergoing a fourth session of sea trials on the Pacific Ocean off San Diego.

Kornreich also said that a secret agreement between Alinghi's backing yacht club, Societe Nautique de Geneve, and the International Sailing Federation will be shared with the Golden Gate Yacht Club, which backs BMW Oracle Racing, if the Americans sign a confidentially agreement. The Americans agreed to those terms.

Both sides said Kornreich has a firm grasp of the issues.

"The good news is it seems she's going to give us clarity on the rules and she is not going to let them cherry-pick and decide for themselves what rules will and will not apply," BMW Oracle Racing spokesman Tom Ehman said.

BMW Oracle Racing had asked Kornreich to hold Alinghi in contempt unless it follows the Racing Rules of Sailing without alterations. The Americans said the Swiss claimed the right to change the rules for the match at any time without mutual consent.

Kornreich said there was no basis for contempt.

She also said there was nothing in the Deed of Gift, the 19th-century document that governs the America's Cup, that says precisely when BMW Oracle Racing must give Alinghi the measurement certificate for its trimaran. Alinghi wanted the Americans disqualified if they didn't submit the document within 14 days.

The Americans say it's not possible to get the Certificate of Documentation from the Coast Guard until they are finished with trials and know the boat is seaworthy. Launched late last summer, the triple-hulled boat was significantly modified in the spring.

Plus, BMW Oracle Racing is believed to be building a new boat in Anacortes, Washington, that would likely be the one to sail against Alinghi's big cat, which sailed for the first time Monday on Lake Geneva.

"It seems to us quite clear that she is not going to let them force us into this Catch-22 of stopping our development before we know the rules," Ehman said.

BMW Oracle Racing questioned the legality of an engine Alinghi uses to trim the sails on its catamaran, Alinghi 5. But Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth has said the Deed of Gift is virtually wide-open regarding boat design.

"Justice Kornreich showed a great deal of knowledge of the file and the case and while she reserved her decision, she made it crystal clear that the provisions of the Deed of Gift put no restriction on yacht design," Butterworth said in a statement.

Kornreich said SNG can't apply rules 49 through 54 of the Racing Rules of Sailing. Until her written ruling, Ehman said that seems to indicate it will be legal for both boats to have engines for trimming sails and moving ballast.

BMW Oracle Racing uses crewmen called grinders to turn the winches that trim the sails on BOR 90, but Ehman said the design team has probably been studying adding an engine.

The match is scheduled to begin February 8. Alinghi said it will announce the site on Augugst 6. It is considering ports in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Italy, as well as Valencia, Spain. If it's a Northern Hemisphere port other than Valencia, the Swiss will need BMW Oracle Racing's mutual consent.

-AP