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Update July 2009  New York, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) - The Challenger of the Record for the 33rd America’s Cup sailing race is now the GGYC (Golden Gate Yachting Club) in San Francisco, following a ruling by a judge in New York Tuesday that disqualified the Valencia-based Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV).

Photo, Ivo Rivero 2007, Alinghi, Dubai November 2007. Reprinted with permission.

The Spanish club had been named as the Challenger of the Record by Alinghi, the Swiss-based team that won the 32nd race in July 2007, and Valencia was selected as the home for the next race. The America’s Cup is the top event in the sailing world.

Today’s ruling is based on a technicality, that the CNEV had not held its annual regatta before becoming the Challenger of Record, Michel Hodara, chief operating officer of ACM (America’s Cup Management), which oversees the races, told GenevaLunch. Alinghi’s choice was hotly contested from the start by BMW Oracle, which was not the challenger for the 2007 race.

Emirates Team New Zealand was the Challenger of Record in July 2007, having won the Louis Vuitton race series against several other competitors. Alinghi defeated Emirates 5-2 in a very close set of races.

The judge’s decision is a blow to the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), the yacht club that is home to Alinghi. The SNG was taken to court in August by BMW Oracle, whose home is the GGYC in California.

Ernesto Bertarelli, president of Alinghi, said in a prepared statement, “We are disappointed that a technicality made the CNEV invalid and we are now looking forward to discussions with the Golden Gate Yacht Club to keep the America’s Cup functioning.”

A weary-sounding Hodara said to GenevaLunch that “the next step is to think about it, to try to understand the judge’s decision.” He added that “Everything is an option,” and while he did not rule out further legal action he noted that this is probably not what people want.

The CEO of BMW Oracle, Lake Geneva region-based Russell Coutts, said in a press release that “We are very pleased by the decision as it enables everyone to focus on getting the Cup back on track quickly.” According to Coutts the GGYC wants a 2009 “conventional America’s Cup regatta in Valencia and is planning to speak with Alinghi as soon as possible to organize a meeting seeking a mutual consent challenge.”

History of the America’s Cup, wikipedia