America’s Cup rules spat headed back to court

America’s Cup challenger BMW Oracle Racing went back to a New York court on Wednesday in an attempt to stop what it calls the unfair manipulation of the rules by defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland.

The San Francisco-based syndicate filed a motion asking the Supreme Court of the State of New York to keep the Swiss from issuing rules that would disqualify the American trimaran. It also asked Justice Shirley Kornreich — whose court has jurisdiction over America’s Cup legal tussles — to make public a secret agreement the Swiss signed with the International Sailing Federation.

This is the latest action in a bitter, convoluted legal spat that’s lasted more than two years. The rivals are headed for a best-of-3 showdown in massive multihulls in February in Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.

BMW Oracle Racing spokesman Tom Ehman said the syndicate took Wednesday’s actions because “recent actions by Societe Nautique de Geneve to unfairly manipulate the rules continue their disturbing pattern of misconduct as Trustee of the oldest trophy in sports.”

Ehman said the Swiss have issued a measurement rule that, if allowed to stand, would disqualify the American trimaran. Ehman said the Swiss have stipulated that the boat be measured with its rudder attached, which would make the boat exceed its 90-foot waterline.

“They’re trying to subvert more than a century of practice,” Ehman said. “They’re trying to disqualify our boat by using a technicality they know has never been used in the Cup. Never in the history of the America’s Cup have rudders been used to determine the length of the boat. It’s absurd.”

Ehman also said the Swiss are insisting the boat exactly match the 90-foot length stated in BMW Oracle Racing’s challenge issued in July 2007. Ehman said the Deed of Gift stipulates that a boat can’t exceed 90 feet, but can be shorter than that.

Alinghi officials weren’t immediately available for comment.

“It’s just another step in our fight for fair and competitive rules,” Ehman said. “The last thing we want to do is spend more time and money in court, but we have no choice. They’re trying to use rules to disqualify us.”

BMW Oracle Racing has been testing its trimaran off San Diego. The Swiss are putting their 90-foot catamaran through sea trials off Genoa, Italy.

Also Wednesday, New York attorney Cory E. Friedman filed a motion asking the court to reveal the terms of the agreement between Alinghi and ISAF. Friedman is a sailor who has written about the America’s Cup court fight for sailingscuttlebutt.com.