MADRID - America's Cup defender Alinghi of Switzerland argued again before a New York court on Wednesday in favour of holding the next edition of the event in the United Arab Emirates instead of in Spain.
The move raised new uncertainty regarding the location of the duel between Alinghi and its US challenger Oracle in a multihull duel set for February 2010.
Both sides have stated they are ready to hold their best-of-three multihull showdown to decide the 33rd edition of the America's Cup in Valencia, where the Swiss team won the last edition of yachting's most prestigious event in 2007.
They agreed on Valencia after New York Supreme Court Judge Shirley Kornreich ruled last month that the Cup must take place in Valencia or in a venue in the Southern Hemisphere as per the strict reading of the competition's governing document, the Deed of Gift.
The ruling meant that the yacht race could not take place in the port of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates as had been proposed by Alinghi.
But in its arguments before the court on Wednesday, Alinghi's lawyer argued that the Deed of Gift stipulates that the defending champion has the right to select the location of the next race.
"If Justice Kornreich's decision is upheld, it would be the first time in the history of the America's Cup that the Defender is deprived of its fundamental right to choose the venue," Alinghi said in a statement.
Alinghi also asked the court that if it does not reinstate Ras al-Khaimah as the location for the Cup in February, that the event be delayed until May to allow the choice of the UAE port to comply with the Deed of Gift, Oracle said in a statement.
The New York court is expected to give its ruling by mid-December.
Alinghi and Oracle, owned respectively by Swiss biotech billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli and American computer billionaire Larry Ellison, have been locked in a legal battle over the event since the Swiss syndicate won the last edition in Valencia in 2007.
Oracle first launched a legal challenge 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.
But the two had remained in dispute over the venue.