America's Cup finally hits the water

After more than two years of tedious litigation and increasingly poisonous PR, the sailors and their magnificent multihulls will rightfully seize centre stage when the 33rd America's Cup finally takes the gun off Valencia tonight (NZT).

But the court-marooned build-up to the best-of-three Deed of Gift match had one final, unbelievable twist on land late yesterday when Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli insisted: "As far as I'm concerned whatever happens on the water is the final decision."

Challenging BMW Oracle Racing president Larry Ellison would no doubt have fallen off his chair on hearing that at the owners' press conference, if only the 65-year-old American software mogul had bothered to show up.

Ellison boycotted the presser in a show of how low relations have dipped between the two bickering billionaires, once friendly rivals who have agreed on precisely nothing since the last Cup finished in July 2007.

And as much as the sailing world would love to believe Bertarelli, few can see the warring syndicates leaving their acrimonious fight on the Mediterranean Sea, especially if Alinghi can defend the Auld Mug for a second time after seeing off Team New Zealand in the 2007 Cup match.

Indeed, if Oracle lose on the water, they appear certain to follow through on their pending New York Supreme Court action challenging the legality of Alinghi's sails under the Deed of Gift's "country of origin" rules. It's also hard to imagine Alinghi won't find some legal loophole if they are beaten.

Indeed, the only certainty tonight - the first warning gun is scheduled for 10pm NZT weather permitting - is the uncertainty surrounding what shapes as an enthralling match-up between the two fastest, most powerful and technologically advanced race yachts ever built.

Conventional wisdom suggests Oracle's triamaran - USA 17 - will prove more manoeuvrable and may possibly be able to point higher (sail closer to the wind while beating to windward) thanks to their 190ft hard wing mailsail.

Oracle's Kiwi sailing team coach Joey Allen is certainly enthused by the technology behind the trimaran to be helmed by Australian 30-year-old James Spitall.

"It's like, I dunno, getting ready to go to the moon. It's just the most extreme vessel ever attempted to be built on the planet and it feels like we're off into space," Allen said.
But Bertarelli - who will share driving duties on Alignhi 5 with French multihull legend 

Loick Peyron - will be buoyed by the light six-to-eight know sou-westerly winds forecast for race one, a 40 nautical mile windward-leeward race. Alinghi's catamaran is reportedly geared for lighter winds, though there is no guarantee what the weather gods will throw up in mid-winter in the Med, especially as the course could reach as far as 40nm offshore at its extremity.

What is known is that this America's Cup match will be like none other in the 159-year history of sports oldest international trophy.

It may yet prove a blowout to rival the last Deed of Gift match when Dennis Conner's 55ft catamaran Stars and Stripes (US-1) beat New Zealand's (David Barnes-skippered) 90ft monohull KZ1 by deltas of 18mins 15s and 21mins 10s off San Diego in 1988.

The enormous dimensions of USA-17 and Alinghi 5 mean there is unlikely to be a tight, zig-zagging tacking duel normally associated with America's Cup racing, though either syndicate might attempt to force a penalty in the pre-start if they perceive their rival has an edge in the given conditions.

The weather could ultimately be the decisive factor as the reliability of the monster multis has yet to be tested in the heat of battle.

Ellison has billed it as sailing's version of the X-Games.

"This is extreme sailing...I think it is going to be the greatest spectacle in sailing history and I'm very proud to be part of it."

The final word, as it often has been, was left to Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth who will act as tactician on the Swiss syndicates' 90ft (110ft overall) catamaran which carries a mast towering over 17 storeys high on a foundation incredibly no bigger than a tennis ball.

"Designing and building Alinghi 5 has been a huge ask in such a short timeframe, and the guys on the design and shore team have done an extraordinary job in giving us this boat," Butterworth said.

"Our opponent is formidable, BMW Oracle has a very good sailor in James Spithill and their boat is a credit to their design team. I speak for all of us on the sailing team when I say we are looking forward to racing and getting the sport back on the water where it belongs."

Kent Gray, on assignment in Spain for Fairfax Media, is Editor of Boating New Zealand magazine.

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