MADRID: America’s Cup defender Oracle reaffirmed Monday that the boat which Swiss defending champion Alinghi planned to use in their multi-hull duel slated for February did not meet the event’s nationality rules.The US team said in a statement that it intended to meet with the Swiss side “as soon as possible in an attempt to remove the question mark hanging over the legality of Alinghi’s yacht”.
Last week Oracle accused Alinghi of using sails in its boats which were made in the US state of Nevada in contradiction to the rules for the yacht race which specifies that participating vessels must be constructed in the country where the sailing club which they represent is located.
Alinghi has said Oracle’s accusations were “simply false” as its boat “was built in Switzerland and so are its sails”.
But in its statement on Monday, Oracle said that Nevada was the only place in the world where the North Sails Group made the type of sails employed by Alinghi’s boat.
It is prepared to give Alinghi “reasonable time to manufacture sails in Switzerland and take other remedial measures” during its upcoming meeting with its rival.
The face-off between Alinghi and Oracle had been slated to start in the Spanish port of Valencia on February 8.
Alinghi and Oracle have been arguing over the rules of the America’s Cup in court since Alinghi won the last edition of the yacht race, often referred to as sailing’s Formula One, in Valencia in 2007. — AFP