Another legal tussle for America's Cup holder
'Emirates Team NZ CEO, Grant Dalton out for a peek at the AC opposition at the Bol d’Or on Lake Geneva'
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Friday sees the latest assault on the beleaguered America's Cup holder, Ernesto Bertarelli's Swiss-based Alinghi, threatening a tens of millions of dollars of compensation. But the pharmaceuticals and property billionaire is not worried about what a federal court in New York may say about the claim by Team New Zealand.
Kiwi boss Grant Dalton was in Geneva at the weekend to see Bertarellli have to be content with third place in the 600-boat classic Bol d'Or, a 70-mile hike up and down Lake Geneva.
But Dalton knows that his case could take months and years to grind its way through the complex American system. Of more immediate concern to Bertarelli, smiling and relaxed despite the disappointment, are the deliberations of the appellate division of the New York courts, considering his request to overturn a previous decision by the supreme court to impose rival billionaire Larry Ellison's San Francisco-based BMW Oracle team as the sole challenger for the America's Cup.
This has derailed many other challengers, including Britain's origin team, headed by Sir Keith Mills, aided and abetted by Carphone Warehouse boss Charles Dunstone.
Bertarelli's right hand man, Australian Grant Simmer, could offer little hope of any early resolution. 'I see this whole thing being battled out every step of the way,' he said. 'This is not a nice period for the America's Cup. In the immediate future, there are not any bright lights.' In theory, Alinghi should meet BMW Oracle in a first to two wins head-to-head at a venue of Alinghi's choosing and using giant, hugely fast, terrifyingly complex multihulls.
But Simmer is not confident the matter would end there. He fears that BMW Oracle would seek grounds for further legal action if they were beaten and, although at first saying they would 'probably lick our wounds and decide where we go from there' if Alinghi lost, added that there were issues to be resolved over the legality of the BMW Oracle boat - or could that be boats. As there can even be dialogue and unofficial talks between sworn enemies like the Israeli government and Hammas, he was asked if there were any secret talks between the two camps. 'There is no dialogue,' he said emphatically. 'It's like divorce; there are a lot of divorces where people do not talk to each other.'
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by Stuart Alexander, The Independent
