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MADRID - Time is running out for the two billionaires bickering over the America's Cup to resolve their differences and make sure sailing's most prestigious regatta is fought on the water and not in court.
If software tycoon Larry Ellison and biotech baron Ernesto Bertarelli cannot settle a
wrangle over the rules of the next America's Cup due to take place in 2009, the case will be heard in the New York Supreme Court on Monday.
Lawyers could then tie it up for months as they pore over whether the rules set by Bertarelli's team Alinghi match the spirit of the "Deed of Gift", the document that has governed sailing's most glamorous event since 1887.
"It's not going to be easy because they're two very powerful men," veteran America's Cup sailor Paul Cayard said this week.
There are more than egos at stake.
If the case goes to court, the next America's Cup will almost certainly be pushed back from 2009, forcing teams to rethink their preparation plans or even put things on hold.
A long and labyrinthine case would also sap the public interest that built up so strongly during this year's America's Cup, and therefore weaken sponsorship appeal for campaigns that run to about US$100 million ($134.53 million) per team.
If the judge eventually decides in Ellison's favour, other challengers hoping for a crack at the "Auld Mug" may not even get a look in as the ruling could mean his BMW Oracle team takes on Alinghi alone in 2008.
It is all a sorry mess for an event that put sailing on sport's centre stage this year by opening the glitz and glamour to the public in Valencia and then treated them to some of the most thrilling racing in recent history.
Alinghi eventually beat Team New Zealand 5-2 to win the America's Cup for a second time, and with it the right to run their defence as and when they wanted.
Many of the teams agreed that the rules Alinghi set for the 33rd America's Cup gave the Swiss syndicate an unfair advantage but only BMW Oracle had the money and determination to force a change through legal channels.
Bertarelli at first accused Ellison of trying to win the Cup in court having twice failed on water but since then Alinghi have tweaked some of the contested rules and offered challengers more voice in designing a new class of boat.
That was not enough to quell fears at BMW Oracle, now led by former Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts who famously fell out with Bertarelli and was sacked in 2004.
This week the US team sent its own proposal to Alinghi and other challengers to try and solve the issues. Alinghi said it had received the letter but would not comment on its contents.
"We're always willing to push the process forward to resolve this," a BMW Oracle spokeswoman said this week.
With the courts looming the other side of the weekend, the pressure is on for all the teams to set egos aside and unravel all the proposals and counter-proposals to come up with rules that satisfy everyone before the lawyers get involved.
- REUTERS