Swiss pick UAE’s Ras al-Khaimah for America’s Cup

Everything leading up to the 33rd America’s Cup has been unconventional and surprising, so it figures that the venue might as well be extraordinary, too.

Yes, the stodgy old America’s Cup is going to be decided in the Middle East.

Two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland picked the Persian Gulf port Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, as the site where it will settle its bitter feud with American challenger BMW Oracle Racing.

A twisting, two-year court tussle between bickering billionaire syndicate bosses has led to a rare best-of-3 series in massive multihulls for the oldest trophy in international sports. The nautical grudge match is scheduled to begin Feb. 8.

It could be the most extreme, spectacular racing in the 158-year history of the America’s Cup. The space age-looking boats are 90 feet long, dwarf their crews, are capable of sailing 2 to 2 1/2 times the speed of the wind and are potentially lethal if pushed too hard.

Alinghi, led by biotech tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, will sail a catamaran. BMW Oracle Racing, owned by Oracle Corp. founder and CEO Larry Ellison, is testing its trimaran in San Diego. The one-time pals sail aboard the boats they own. Each boat is estimated to have cost well more than $10 million.

Ras al-Khaimah, which literally means “The Top of the Tent,” is a little-known, mostly industrial city-state on the southern end of the Persian Gulf. It’s not far from the Strait of Hormuz, which separates the UAE from Iran, and is known for producing cement, not oil.

Alinghi officials said Ras al-Khaimah is ideal because of its weather and support pledged by leaders there.

“It’s a pretty nice place to sail,” Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Butterworth is a four-time America’s Cup winner and former crewmate of Russell Coutts, one of the Cup’s most dominant skippers who now leads BMW Oracle Racing.

Butterworth said Ras al-Khaimah has a nice sea breeze that reminds him of the Caribbean. Safe weather conditions for the crews and their big boats was a concern, he added.

In a statement released by the Swiss, Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi said it is “a great moment for us to host the America’s Cup here. It is significant because it reflects how the Emirates have become a place for hosting international events. It is a reflection on what we have achieved in terms of becoming the destination for tourists and trade and industry and is a reflection of our integration in the world at large.”

BMW Oracle Racing officials aren’t as enthusiastic. As with many other issues, the Americans are considering going back to a New York court to challenge the selection.

They believe the choice of Ras al-Khaimah, without mutual consent, violates the provisions of the Deed of Gift that governs the America’s Cup and the decisions of New York courts. The Americans believe the venue should be Valencia, Spain — which the Swiss say will be too rough for the big boats in February — or a Southern Hemisphere port.

Coutts, Alinghi’s skipper in its 5-0 victory over his native New Zealand in 2003 before having a falling out with Bertarelli, told The AP that BMW Oracle Racing will likely send officials to Ras al-Khaimah to gather more information before deciding whether to return to court. He’s sailed in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but not Ras al-Khaimah.

“I didn’t really know where it was on the map until it was announced,” Coutts said. He said the only thing he knows about Ras al-Khaimah was from seeing an animation of the venue on a sailing Web site.

“We’re not going to rush to make a decision,” said Coutts, who sailed undefeated through three straight America’s Cup matches, the first two with Team New Zealand. “We’re going to try to find out the information first. Frankly, none of us have been to Ras al-Khaimah. I certainly don’t know what’s there and what’s been planned.”

Fred Meyer, vice commodore of Alinghi’s backing yacht club, Societe Nautique de Geneve, said UAE officials will build an island to be used by the teams, sponsors and fans.

Alinghi trained in Dubai, UAE, prior to the 2007 America’s Cup, when it beat Team New Zealand in Valencia.

“It was a real eye-opener for me,” Butterworth said. “We went and watched Tiger (Woods) play in the Desert Classic there and Roger Federer played there that time of the year, so there’s a lot of sport going on in that area. I think eventually a regatta was going to happen there one way or the other.”

Alinghi is believed to have wanted a port with light wind and flat seas, which could give its giant cat, Alinghi 5, an edge over BMW Oracle Racing’s trimaran.

Alinghi is scheduled to use a giant, Russian-built helicopter to lift Alinghi 5 off Lake Geneva on Friday and fly it over the Alps along the Great St. Bernard Pass to Genoa, Italy, for a month of training on the Mediterranean.

The America’s Cup got its name after the schooner America beat a fleet of British ships around the Isle of Wight on Aug. 22, 1851, to win an ornate silver trophy that had been called the Hundred Guinea Cup. Since then it has been contested off New York; Newport, R.I; Fremantle, Australia; San Diego; Auckland, New Zealand; and Valencia.