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The Spanish port of Valencia, the site of the last America’s Cup in 2007, now fears it may never host yachting’s premier event again after defenders Alinghi and challengers Oracle moved to stage a multihull duel for the next edition.
The Swiss champions and the US challengers, which have been embroiled in a long-running legal battle over the event, failed to reach agreement in Geneva on Thursday on a traditional regatta involving multiple challengers for the 33rd edition of the Cup.
Barring any accord, the Cup must be decided by a multihull duel between the two teams, under the 19th century rules governing the oldest international trophy in sport.
“It’s the end of the dream for a lot of people who hoped to see the success of the 2007 America’s Cup repeated in Valencia,” said the local daily Las Provincias.
It blamed the “gangrene” that has afflicted the event through a conflict between the two billionaire owners of the teams, Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi and Larry Ellison of Oracle.
An Alinghi/Oracle duel would in theory be held in Valencia in early 2010, but the exact date has not be set and Alinghi could still look for another site.
A victory for the Americans on the water could also see the 34th edition held in San Francisco, home of the Oracle’s representative the Golden Gate Yacht Club, in three or four years, and mean the end of event in Spain.
And any best-of-three multihulled duel, even if it takes place in Valencia, would only last a few days.
That would be a huge disappointment for the city and the region of Valencia, which has invested heavily in the event.
Alinghi won the 2007 edition of the America’s Cup in Valencia, beating Team New Zealand in the final.
The 33rd America’s Cup was scheduled for Valencia in 2009 but was postponed when Oracle filed a court case in which it objected to Alinghi’s choice of Spanish yacht club CNEV as its official Challenger of Record.
A New York court earlier this month ruled in Oracle’s favour and named the US team as the Challenger of Record, with the right to organise the 33rd America’s Cup with Alinghi.
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