MADRID (AFP) — The New York Supreme Court upheld Thursday a lower court's ruling that the multihull duel between Oracle and defending champions Alinghi to decide the 33rd America's Cup be held in February 2010, the two teams said in a statement.
Alinghi wanted the event to be held three months later in May 2010. In a statement, the Swiss team said it would adhere to judge Shirley Kornreich's decision and "welcomes the clarity that it brings".
Oracle had asked the court to confirm a unanimous decision made in April by the New York State Court of Appeals that the next edition of the yacht race be held in February 2010 after Alinghi sought to delay it until May 2010.
"Today's hearing should end any further delay to the 33rd America's Cup and we can now look forward to some exciting racing in state-of-the-art boats early next year," Oracle spokesman Tom Ehman said in a statement after the hearing.
The two sides have been locked in a legal battle over the rules of the next America's Cup since Alinghi won the 32nd edition of yachting's premier event in the Spanish port of Valencia in July 2007.
In its statement, Alinghi stressed that the judge also recognised that it, as the defending champion, had the right to choose the location of the duel and that it could announce its decision six months before the event.
She also ruled that the location of the next America's cup can be agreed through mediation, it added.
Alinghi had originally selected Valencia to once again host the America's Cup but it said the judge ruled the event can be held anywhere in the northern hemisphere.
The judge also ruled that Oracle provide Alinghi with a detailed description of the yacht it will use in the event as had been required by the Swiss team, Alinghi said.
She also ruled that the boat must stick to the specifications of their "Notice of Challenge", it added.
Oracle, owned by American software tycoon Larry Ellison, has already been training for a duel since October on a giant trimaran built in the United States while Alinghi, owned by Swiss pharmaceuticals billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, began its training programme late last month.
Bertarelli said in a newspaper interview published earlier Thursday that Alinghi will try out their new multihull yacht in for the first time mid-July on Lake Geneva.
"It'll be three times as big and four times as fast as the boat with which we won the 2007 America's Cup," he told Swiss daily 20 minuten.
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