
Just When You Thought The America’s Cup Couldn’t Get Any Worse
In the latest of a long line of legal squabbles that have tarnished the America’s Cup, Grant Dalton, head of Team New Zealand, has sent a letter to Alinghi owner Ernesto Bertarelli, demanding compensation for the postponement of the America’s Cup to after ’09. We don’t know how much he’s asking for, but Dalton wrote that the Kiwis would lose about $24 million if the America’s Cup is put back to ’10, and $36 million if it’s put back to ’11. This is partly based on a side deal that Alinghi made with the Kiwis.

The demand was reportedly presented to Bertarelli just 24 hours before Justice Herman Cahn of the New York Supreme Court found in favor of Larry Ellison and BMW Oracle and against Alinghi in their lawsuit. As it stands now, BMW Oracle and Alinghi are hoping to quickly reach an agreement that would prevent them from having to resort to the default — which would be racing in 90-ft multihulls.