BMW Oracle club contests Alinghi's defence terms

BMW Oracle's Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) has contested the terms Swiss defender Alinghi has set for the next America's Cup, it said yesterday.

The California club said the protocol Alinghi signed with newly-established Club Nautico Espanol de la Vela was with an illegitimate challenger and unfairly favoured the Swiss.

GGYC, which has itself now challenged Alinghi, said it had a lot of support from other America's Cup teams in its case.

An Alinghi spokeswoman contacted in Valencia declined to comment on the claims by BMW Oracle or whether the Swiss had been notified of the decision to contest the terms.

Alinghi's yacht club Societe Nautique de Geneve said the 33rd America's Cup would be raced in bigger boats in Europe but did not set a specific time or place for the event.

GGYC, represented by Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle team in this year's event, said CNEV's challenge was invalid under the terms of the Deed of Gift document setting the America's Cup rules.

This states that any challenging yacht club must hold an annual regatta on an arm of the sea.

"CNEV has never conducted a regatta of any kind and thus cannot be a legitimate Cup challenger," GGYC said in a statement, adding that the protocol was weighted in Alinghi's favour.

Under America's Cup rules, the winner decides where, when and how to defend their title. They decide the format with a challenger of record representing all the yacht clubs challenging for the "Auld Mug".

BMW Oracle was the challenger of record for the 2007 edition of the Cup, which Alinghi won earlier this month by beating Team New Zealand 5-2 in Valencia.

"The Alinghi Protocol for the 33rd America's Cup alters the very nature of the competition giving unprecedented and unfair advantages to the Defender," GGYC said.

Unfair competition

"Without the basic elements of regatta venue, date and boat design rules as required by the Deed of Gift, the Alinghi Protocol provides no opportunity for a fair and equitable competition."

Only the Defender can begin to plan their campaign and design their yachts while all the other competitors must sit and wait for further information, they said.

Alinghi have said they will tell other teams where and when the next Cup will be by December 31 and will set the exact rules over how to build the new class boat by the end of the year.

Alinghi are in talks over possibly returning to Valencia but are also looking at other venues.

If the Spanish city is picked, the next Cup will be in 2009, otherwise it could be contested as late as 2011.