Further claims dog OneWorld

By HELEN TUNNAH

The America's Cup challenger series has been thrown into confusion by a second attempt in as many days to have OneWorld Challenge disqualified from the competition.

The international jury will tonight hear an application from Team Dennis Conner to have OneWorld tossed out of the regatta for breaking the "fair play" rules of sailing.

Because the jury is not expected to reach any final decisions, the validity of this week's quarter-final sail-offs has been cast into doubt.

OneWorld and Team Dennis Conner are racing in the sail-off, and the winner should go through to next month's semifinals.

However, with questions over OneWorld's eligibility being raised, there are now doubts about what should happen if the Seattle team keep winning and knocking other teams out of the contest only to be disqualified later.

Team Dennis Conner and Prada raised the stakes in the Louis Vuitton Cup on Sunday with a joint application to the America's Cup arbitration panel to have OneWorld's challenge declared invalid.

The two teams have filed further claims that OneWorld knowingly had, and used, other syndicates' design information and then misled the panel about it.

The claims are based on evidence given to them by Team New Zealand two days ago.

But the five-member arbitration panel, which is spread around the world, cannot hear the case quickly and will not receive all the submissions on the case until Christmas.

The move by Conner to take the matter to the international jury is an attempt to speed up proceedings.

Jury chairman Bryan Willis said last night it was not clear if the jury had jurisdiction to hear the claims.

That will be debated tonight, with questions about the validity of Team Dennis Conner's complaints.

Mr Willis said it was possible the jury could work with the panel on the case, by hearing the evidence but leaving to the panel the final decision-making on whether the cup's rules have been broken.

Team Dennis Conner, who represent the New York Yacht Club in the regatta, last night declined to comment on the case, which is centred on allegations that OneWorld used significant design information belonging to Team New Zealand and Prada.

Conner's camp is understood to consider the allegations against OneWorld so serious that they need to be heard to preserve the reputation of sailing.

OneWorld have reacted angrily to Prada and Conner's actions.

"There is a reason that books have been written about the history of unsportsmanlike conduct in the America's Cup," OneWorld said.

"The same characters and organisations continue to reappear in the acts of skulduggery and underhandedness."

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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