KEY POINTS:
BMW Oracle are understood to already be designing a 90-foot catamaran and are expected to lodge an injunction next week to force the increasingly embattled America's Cup into a courtroom showdown.
Intriguingly, in a week where Russell Coutts was unveiled as BMW Oracle's chief executive and skipper (as outlined in the Herald on Sunday on June 24), Oracle's strategy of forcing an America's Cup contest in 90-foot multi-hulls seems to have firmed.
Cup sources confirmed that Oracle's next move is expected to be an injunction this week to halt preparations for the 33rd America's Cup. This comes after Alinghi announced last week that the regatta will be held in Valencia in 2009 and criticised Oracle's challenge to replace a Spanish yacht club as Challenger of Record.
If the Oracle court action goes ahead - and is won, without a negotiated settlement - the America's Cup will effectively be hijacked and will become an Oracle v Alinghi contest in 90-foot catamarans in 2008, freezing out other challengers including Emirates Team New Zealand.
Even more intriguing is the news from sources close to the action that Oracle are already designing a 90-foot catamaran. This is a signal that the US syndicate may be expecting their court action to have a more narrow result than the "for the good of all the challengers" banner under which their actions have been cloaked until now.
One source said: "We have heard that the catamaran is already being designed internally, with [designer] Michel Kermarec supposed to be involved. It is ironic because Oracle were highly critical of Alinghi's protocol, saying it gave the Swiss a head start on the challengers - but what Oracle are doing is doing exactly the same to Alinghi while cutting out every other challenger."
Kermarec was part of Oracle's last America's Cup campaign. Other Cup sources say the arrival of Coutts may also help Oracle's catamaran strategy.
Coutts and another America's Cup skipper, American Paul Cayard, announced the establishment of the World Sailing League early this year - a series of races at venues around the globe for a new fleet of one-design, 70-foot catamarans in 2009. Coutts and Cayard - then between America's Cup assignments after Coutts fell out with Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli - are supposed to be skippering boats in the League due to kick off in 2009.
Coutts' publicists did not return calls this week but presumably, with an America's Cup campaign also happening in 2009, his involvement in the WSL is under question. There has been no further announcement about the WSL and funding, venues, dates and the like.
However, the knowledge involved in designing the 70-foot catamarans would be more than useful to Oracle.
"No-one knows for sure but it would not be good for the America's Cup if Russell is playing a role in this [the court action] strategy to keep alive his spat with Ernesto Bertarelli," said one source.
The Oracle injunction is expected to be lodged to force Alinghi and Bertarelli to address the challenge that Oracle have filed with the New York Supreme Court.
Bertarelli and Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth hit out at Oracle and team leader Larry Ellison last week as the two billionaires jostled for position. Bertarelli planned a press conference for Thursday morning (NZT) to announce Valencia as the venue; Ellison arranged a press conference the day before to unveil Coutts.
Ellison is maintaining that the desired outcome is to force Alinghi to re-negotiate a protocol (the terms and conditions for the next regatta, including boat size and new rules such as the defender being able to race in the challenger series).
He said: "The outcome we'd like is to negotiate a reasonable protocol with Alinghi. No-one wants to see this go to court. But you must understand - if Alinghi doesn't like a challenger, they may throw that challenger out of the Cup for any reason at their sole discretion. We think that's both unreasonable and unfair. There's a long list of stuff which makes it impossible for anyone to have a chance."
Ellison told the New York Times said that he had spoken to Bertarelli and described the conversation as "not a pleasant phone call".
"I said, 'Our intent is not to go to court and we want to negotiate.' And Ernesto said, 'BMW Oracle is not in a very strong negotiating position.'
"I said, 'Ernesto, isn't this only one-sided?' And he said, 'Larry, wouldn't you take this protocol if you had a chance to get it?"'
However, Bertarelli was biting at his press conference: "It is a shame that, having failed to win the America's Cup twice on the water and having barely managed to avoid finishing fifth in the last challenger trials, he now wants to win it in a court of law."
"He is clearly damaging the America's Cup. Team Alinghi is not interested in Larry Ellison's multihull race," he said. "We're sportsmen, not lawyers. We're sailors, not corporate raiders. What we'd like to do is go sailing and fortunately I've found a few teams to go sailing with. I don't need Larry Ellison's lawsuit in New York."
Bertarelli also said he hoped to pre-empt Ellison's legal move by referring his complaints to an arbitration panel which he is appointing. It is this that is likely to force Oracle's hand with an injunction.
However, what has become apparent from the latest manoeuvres is that, while Alinghi's protocol was unpopular, Oracle's move may be even more so.
Team New Zealand are not commenting on the Oracle court action but their challenge for the 33rd America's Cup - received by Alinghi last week - spoke volumes. It shows the Kiwis are more interested in a regatta than a legal challenge.
Alinghi have also softened their earlier stance. They have said the challengers can have an input to the class rule (the rules for the boats) before it is finalised by the end of October, not December - meaning the challengers will get more time; the source of much early discontent.
Ellison and Coutts may be becoming more isolated with their strategy - but it is too early to tell if that will stay their hand.
