The story, first published in a Spanish newspaper has been doing the rounds in Europe and USA, and names four teams as being involved – Sir Keith Mills (TeamOrigin), Ernesto Bertarelli (Alinghi), Patrizio Bertelli (Luna Rossa Prada) and Grant Dalton (New Zealand Team ).

The story was dismissed by Team New Zealand as being many months old, and predated the announcements by Oracle Racing and the Defender of the America’s Cup as to the venue and other basics associated with the 34th America’s Cup.

The concept was that the AC90 genre of yachts, devised by Alinghi in conjunction with the Challengers (during 2009) would be used for the new competition.

There has been no published comment from the other teams involved.

The first two (Alinghi and Team Origin) have said they will not compete in the 34th America’s Cup. Luna Rossa have not made a statement of intent either way. Team New Zealand have indicated they are doing due diligence and trying to raise sufficient finance and sponsorship to mount a credible campaign for the 2013 Match.

Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand have entered the 2011 Extreme 40 series to be conducted in 40ft catamarans, as have Alinghi who are one of the principals of that circuit. TeamOrigin are believed to be competing on the Audi MedCup circuit to be sailed in TP52 monohulls n 2011

The original story can be viewed here

Source: http://www.sail-world.com/Europe/Team-New-Zealand-deny-interest-in-rival-Americas-Cup-circuit/79312

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Copyright Luca Butto’/ Alinghi

Alinghi welcomed the Valencia authorities to its base in the Dársena this afternoon to watch the Defender’s giant catamaran, Alinghi 5, be launched ahead of its first sail in Spanish waters. Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi team president, greeted Francisco Camps, the president of the region, and Rita Barberá, the Valencia mayoress, who presented him with the Valencia flag which was immediately raised on board Alinghi 5.

“We are ready for the Match!” declared Bertarelli to the media present. “The team is here, I am here and we are prepared for the America’s Cup Match on the 8 February,” he said. “All the pieces are in place for the event to begin, we have an agreement with the City of Valencia to run the shore based side of the 33rd America’s Cup, and we are just waiting for the blessing of the central government in Madrid.”

As the vast sails were lifted on to the catamaran with a crane, the latest lawsuit – BMW Oracle’s ninth – was discussed; Ernesto Bertarelli was firm on the subject: “Our sails are rooted in Swiss technology and they have been constructed in Villeneuve, Switzerland. This Swiss technology has been used by both defenders and challengers in the America’s Cup since 1995 and we have been through years of development in Switzerland to construct them. Should the American justice system outlaw their use, it would be like asking Roger Federer to defend his title without using his tennis racket. BMW Oracle would win the America’s Cup in court as, without our sails, we cannot race.”

As Alinghi 5 cast off, Ernesto hopped on board the catamaran and the guests boarded the support boats to watch Alinghi 5 go for a shake down sail ahead of the race training programme that begins tomorrow.

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Valencia, Spain – (2010-01-04)

The 33rd America’s Cup defending team, Alinghi, arrived in Valencia, Spain today and will transfer to its existing base in the Dársena (the inner harbour of Valencia) over the next couple of days to begin its final preparations towards the Deed of Gift Match that starts on 8 February.

The team’s catamaran Alinghi 5, the masts and 20 support containers reached their final destination aboard the Cassandra B container ship on Monday afternoon after a 14 day voyage from the team’s previous base in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.

“We hope that the people of Valencia will be excited to witness the arrival and preparation of our catamaran. We understand the American challenger has also arrived to Valencia and hopefully both boats will be moored in the Dársena and will provide a great spectacle. Since these new yachts are so fast and the racing will take place a long way offshore viewing the yachts from the water will be difficult for the fans, the sponsors and the media; that is why we think the Dársena will form an important arena for this event,” said Grant Simmer, Alinghi design team coordinator.

The team completed a very successful two month training period on 16 December 2009 in the Arabian Gulf and cast off, bound for Europe, on the 21 December. The Cassandra B travelled 4,500 nm out of the Arabian Gulf, into the Red Sea, through the Suez Canal and across the Mediterranean to return the Defender to the Alinghi base in Valencia, which was home to the highly successful 32nd America’s Cup.

Alinghi plans to start sailing in Valencia mid-month and will focus on training for the 36 days that remain until the 33rd America’s Cup Match.

“The voyage from Ras Al Khaimah to Valencia went smoothly and over the coming days we will settle back into our base in the Dársena. The team will focus on readying Alinghi 5 for the final training session ahead of the first race for the 33rd America’s Cup, which starts on 8 February,” added Simmer.

Via Alinghi newsletter

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The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court today upheld Justice Kornreich’s decision of 30 October 2009 that disqualified the America’s Cup Defender Société Nautique de Genève’s choice of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates as venue for the 33rd America’s Cup. The four-judge panel also upheld Kornreich’s decision to exclude rudders from the measurement of the load waterline length of the race yacht.

“Once again BMW Oracle‘s strategy to try to win the America’s Cup in court instead of on the water has been successful. For the first time in the history of the America’s Cup the Defender has been stripped of its fundamental right to select the venue. Société Nautique de Genève accepts this decision and Alinghi is looking forward to racing for the America’s Cup on the water in Valencia, Spain, in February 2010,” said Fred Meyer, SNG vice-commodore.

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An agreement in principle in this sense was reached at a meeting in the city on Thursday between representatives of the two sides, Valencia mayor Rita Barbera said.

The two sides were meeting to prepare the next edition of the sailing race in the case the New York Supreme Court cofirms next week Valencia as the location for the event as desired by Oracle of the United States.

Defending Swiss champions Alinghi want the race to take place in the port of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates but Oracle has contested its choice in court.

Oracle, owned by American computer billionaire Larry Ellison, launched a legal challenge in 2007 that accused Alinghi, which as defending champion is charged with organising the next event, of bending the rules to give it an unfair advantage.

The New York Supreme Court ruled in April that the Cup should be settled by a one-on-one multihull duel between the two sides next February instead of the traditional fully-fledged regatta with several teams involving seven legs.

Via (AFP) & Yahoo News:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091211/sp_wl_afp/yachtingamcup_20091211171613

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Valencia mayoress, Rita Barberá, announced today that Alinghi and BMW-Oracle had agreed to increase the number of America’s Cup regattas to either five or seven and that both teams had agreed to more their boats on the marina’s inner dock.

After three hours of “intensive, but productive” discussions, Barberá made the decisions public and reiterated that “with only two months to go until the competition, there was a lot of work still to be done” and also pointed out that it was still not 100% certain that Valencia would be hosting the regatta since both teams were still awaiting the outcome of Alinghi‘s latest appeal.

The meeting included Tom Ehman, spokesman for BMW-Oracle; Lucien Masmejan, Alinghi‘s lawyer; Gerardo Camps, vice president of Valencia city Council and Ricardo Peralta, the government’s delegate in the Comunidad Valenciana; team representatives and members of the regatta’s international jury amongst others.

It was also agreed today that a ‘reserve base’ would be negotiated in the Valencia’s commercial port, to be used if sea and weather conditions make it too dangerous to bring the boats into the marina.  This means that the American team will no longer have to consider mooring its boat in Sagunto, which had been suggested.

Both teams were in agreement that the match should be disputed over more than the minimum of three races stipulated in the America’s Cup rules, but have yet to decide whether there will be five or seven in total.

The spokesman for BMW-Oracle said that the meeting had shown the “good intentions” of the part of the authorities and both teams “to ensure a fantastic 33rd America’s Cup” and confirmed that today’s meeting had been “a good launchpad”.

Via: http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/17403/americas-cup-preparations-back-on-track

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Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), the 33rd America’s Cup defending yacht club, has proposed an alternative venue to the American challenger in a bid to end their continued litigation and return the Cup to the water

Ahead of tomorrow’s hearing at the New York Supreme Court, the Swiss Defender has proposed a solution to the legal impasse brought about by the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC). While the Defender‘s first choice for the Deed of Gift Match is Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, in order to achieve a Match in February SNG proposes to stage the 33rd America’s Cup on the east coast of Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere, in compliance with the Deed of Gift. This is a venue that should be acceptable to both teams if, as expressed publicly, the true intention of BMW Oracle is to race for the America’s Cup on the water.

A specific race course in the Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Australia, with weather conditions suitable for racing in February, will be announced promptly should GGYC accept this offer and cease their legal strategy. The east coast of Australia offers several locations with ideal sailing conditions for the best-of-three match. A venue in this region would be approximately two and a half weeks away by ship from BMW Oracle’s base in San Diego, while Alinghi’s voyage from Ras Al Khaimah would take approximately three weeks.

SNG is hopeful that this offer will be accepted and that the competition will resume on the water rather than in court.

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Readying for return to the water in Valencia (Spain).

The 33rd edition of the America’s Cup after two years of trials in the Supreme Court of New York, will be held in Valencia. This was agreed Wednesday evening by the representants of Alinghi Ernesto Bertarelli and Rita Barbera (Valencia Mayor).

The deal needs the signature, the competitions will be a duel between Alinghi the Defender, and BMW Oracle Challenger are staged on the waters of Valencia in the next February 2010.

The duel will begin on February 8 , 2010 and will be for the best of three races.

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