KEY POINTS:
Team New Zealand today confirmed they demanded compensation from Alinghi when the America's Cup holders announced a postponement to the 2009 yachting regatta.
The letter was sent before the New York Supreme Court's decision on Wednesday backing American syndicate Oracle Racing in their legal dispute with Alinghi over
the competition rules.
The court ruling has raised hopes that the next regatta could still go ahead in 2009.
Team NZ managing director Grant Dalton said a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper about the compensation claim was substantially correct.
Before Team NZ lodged their latest challenge, they sought from Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli the security of a side agreement that the event would indeed be staged in 2009.
Dalton said Bertarelli was adamant the regatta would go ahead as scheduled and entered into a binding agreement on July 25.
"Emirates Team New Zealand entered into the agreement in good faith," he said.
"The contract provided the assurance we needed to plan for 2009. For Ernesto Bertarelli, the agreement with Emirates Team New Zealand ensured another entry for 2009."
Dalton said the agreement was a simple contract and he was surprised "Alinghi has seen fit to put this letter in the public domain".
Last week, America's Cup Management, the entity set up by Alinghi to run the regatta, announced a postponement, citing the uncertainty caused by Oracle's law suit.
Dalton said all challengers, including Oracle, remained adamant that they wanted an event in 2009, and this could achieved easily as a result of the court verdict.
He said the verdict allowed for a mutually agreed document as the basis of the next America's Cup and such a document had already been formulated between Oracle and the other challengers.
"None of the nine points in this document can be construed as onerous for Alinghi."
The Telegraph said Dalton estimated the losses to Team NZ to be A3;12 million ($33 million) if the next regatta was put back to 2010, and 19 million euros ($37 million) if 2011.
The figures were a "graphic illustration of the disastrous commercial complications caused by the [northern] summer-long stand-off between the Swiss and the Americans".
In the wake of the court ruling, it was now in Bertarelli's hands whether the next competition was in 2009.
The Swiss millionaire had yet to confirm whether he would lodge an appeal, which would delay racing for another year.
One option was for Alinghi would agree to a 2009 regatta on terms that challengers saw as being fairer than under the new protocol, or set of rules, issued shortly after the Alinghi defeated Team NZ in July.
The other scenario was a one-on-one series between Alinghi and Oracle next year.
The Telegraph said the side deal that Dalton did with Bertarelli included giving Team NZ a payment holiday on their entry fee and offering them first right of refusal to Oracle's base in Valencia.
It said other challengers were known to have similar secondary deals, put in place so they felt able to compete.
- NZPA
