The off-water mudslinging has continued at the America's Cup after documents damaging to billionaire Larry Ellison's syndicate Oracle BMW Racing were circulated anonymously to the media.
The documents, delivered to the Herald yesterday but which have not been verified, are intended to suggest Oracle have broken the America's Cup rules by
purchasing design information for two cup boats bought after the 2000 campaign.
That is strictly banned by the cup protocol, and the San Francisco syndicate was told that in an America's Cup Arbitration Panel ruling delivered in October last year.
It is not known who distributed the documents, which do not appear to be complete.
Oracle BMW is racing OneWorld Challenge of Seattle in the semifinals repecharge of the challenger series, with the winner meeting Alinghi, of Switzerland, in next year's challenger finals.
An Oracle lawyer last night dismissed the validity of the documents, and spokeswoman Joanna Ingley said the material was clearly part of a smear campaign, and was dirty tactics.
"That's really sad. It's obvious there's no validity to them or it would have certainly gone to the Arbitration Panel."
The papers date back to the formation of the syndicate in 2000, and the purchase by Ellison of assets belonging to the former AmericaOne syndicate of Paul Cayard.
The first letter outlines the terms and conditions under which Ellison's Team Sayonara would continue the America's Cup work of AmericaOne.
Included is a plan to purchase AmericaOne's boats USA49 and USA61, construction drawings and plans for the yachts, information about the fin, rudders and bulbs, and intellectual property.
A second letter to the California Office of the Attorney General, charitable trusts section, confirms a sale of some assets, but without full details.
The letter given to media is not complete.
An individual who signed the first letter was a partner in the law firm which sent the second letter, and was a senior executive in AmericaOne.
This America's Cup has seen ongoing fights about the rules, and anonymous deliveries of negative material about the teams, including Prada, to the Herald.
Rows have included whether landlocked Switzerland can enter a valid challenger, as well as lengthy legal battles surrounding OneWorld who were found to have twice broken the cup's rules by possessing other teams' design information.
A challenging syndicate must be able to sign a declaration that it has at all times complied with the Protocol before it is eligible to race Team New Zealand in the America's Cup.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
The off-water mudslinging has continued at the America's Cup after documents damaging to billionaire Larry Ellison's syndicate Oracle BMW Racing were circulated anonymously to the media.
The documents, delivered to the Herald yesterday but which have not been verified, are intended to suggest Oracle have broken the America's Cup rules by
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