America's Cup back from court to sailing

VALENCIA, Spain – After more than two years of bitter courtroom battles the 33rd edition of the America’s Cup is finally on.

An acrimonious dispute between two of the world’s richest men that kept sailing’s marquee regatta locked up in court for 2 1-2 years finally was resolved to the point that two-time defending champion Alinghi and American challenger BMW Oracle Racing of California will begin their best-of-three showdown off the coast of Valencia on Monday, weather-permitting.

Regardless of whether the oldest trophy in international sports remains at the Societe Nautique de Geneve on the shores of Lake Geneva, or is spirited back to America after a 15-year absence, it could be a show like none before it in the 159-year history of the America’s Cup.

While the court fight may have strengthened the perception that the America’s Cup is a haven for egos run amok, it also led to the development of two of the fastest, most powerful sailboats ever built.

BMW Oracle Racing, owned by software tycoon Larry Ellison, will sail the trimaran USA. The Swiss, headed by biotech mogul Ernesto Bertarelli, will counter with Alinghi 5, a catamaran. Both are 90 feet long on the waterline and capable of sailing at three times the speed of the wind. USA will use a radical wing sail that towers 223 feet off the deck and has flaps just like an airplane wing.

While the boats are mind-boggling, no one really knows what to expect.

“This will be quite possibly the most spectacular America’s Cup ever, in some ways,” said Paul Cayard, an American veteran of the America’s Cup, Olympics and round-the-world races who will broadcast the races for Eurosport. “It could be a mismatch. It could be that one boat is just significantly faster than the other. This could very well be weather-dependent. Just because one boat is much faster on Monday doesn’t mean the same boat will be faster on Wednesday if the conditions are different.

“But the boats are technologically the most advanced sailboats ever built. The wing, for example, on BMW Oracle, is an incredible piece of technology, something that I’m sure Boeing and Aerospatiale engineers would marvel at themselves. It’s an expose of extremely high technology in sailing.”

Money has been no object for either team. Rough estimates are that each side has spent $200 million on their campaigns, including on designers, engineers, boatbuilders, the sailors, and, of course, the high-priced lawyers and public relations people.           (AP)