KEY POINTS:
Team New Zealand will reveal their future America's Cup plans at 2pm this afternoon, after American yachting syndicate Oracle Racing won their court case against America's Cup holders Alinghi overnight.
The New York Supreme Court decision has cast further doubt on the timing and the format of the
next cup regatta. the their options for the 33rd America's Cup.
Team New Zealand spokesman Warren Douglas said the syndicate is discussing the decision and may hold a press conference later in the day on where they go from here.
"We do these things, we sit down and look at all the options. We don't shoot from the hip. That's very dangerous in the America's Cup," Mr Douglas said.
Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), the home of BMW Oracle Racing, sued because of a dispute with Alinghi's Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG) over the rules for the next race.
"We are very pleased by the decision as it enables everyone to focus on getting the cup back on track quickly," BMW Oracle Racing CEO Russell Coutts said in a statement.
The GGYC argued that Desafio Espanol's status of official challenger - which allowed it to negotiate the disputed format of the next America's Cup - is illegal.
The ruling means that the Americans have the right to sail in a head-to-head series against Alinghi in July 2008, but they appear to prefer that the competition is open to more challengers.
Alinghi's home club, Societe Nautique de Geneve, said the decision was a disappointment.
SNG said Alignhi and the seven syndicates who had already lodged challenges, among them Team New Zealand, would be affected.
"There will now be a thorough review of the judge's decision and an anlysis of the various options offered by the Deed of Gift," it said.
The Deed of Gift is the document that governs the America's Cup.
Oracle, who are not one of the official challengers, took Alinghi to court after the defenders issued a new protocol, or set of rules, for the next regatta.
The protocol had been negotiated with a newly formed Spanish yacht club, Club Nautico Espanol de Vela.
It was released after Alinghi retained the trophy by completing a 5-2 defeat of Team NZ in Valencia in July.
However, Oracle, owned by billionaire Larry Ellison argued that CNEV was not a valid yacht club under the Deed of Gift.
Therefore, CNEV should not have been allowed to negotiate the protocol with Alinghi on behalf of potential challengers.
Alinghi's billionaire boss Ernesto Bertarelli said the case turned on a technicality.
"We are disappointed that a technicality made the CNEV invalid and we are now looking forward to discussion with the Golden Gate Yacht Club to keep the America's Cup functioning."
The new protocol had envisaged the next regatta to be sailed in 2009 and with a new class of larger yachts.
But Oracle claimed there were serious issues of unfairness in the protocol, which it said gave the defenders unprecented advantage and control.
Oracle welcomed the court decision, with chief executive Russell Coutts saying: "It enables everyone to focus on getting the cup back on track quickly".
Coutts, a three-time cup winning skipper, twice with Team NZ and once with Alinghi, said Oracle wanted a conventional cup regatta in Valencia.
He was planning to speak with Alinghi as soon as possible to organise a meeting to seek an event based on mutual consent.
"We will immediately endeavour to meet with the other challengers to mutually agree a fair set of rules negotiated with all the other teams," he said.
"We will be very happy if we can put the last few months behind us and get on with sailing."
If there was no compromise proposal, the option was a one-on-one match between Oracle and Alinghi in either the new class of AC90 yacht or in a multihull.
Oracle's suit was heard in October.
Last month, America's Cup Management, the entity set up by Alinghi to run the regatta, announced that the next series, scheduled for 2009, would be postponed.
It said then that it was looking at pushing the competition back to 2010 or 2011.
Team NZ managing director Grant Dalton is expected to give his syndicate's response to the court decision later today.
- AP