America's Cup Management has published its entry list for the 33rd America's Cup. The list included 19 teams, eight of which are new entries. All of the America's Cup challengers from the last Cup have re-entered with the exception of BMW Oracle Racing, which is currently involved in a lawsuit in the US with America's Cup Defender Alinghi.
According to a statement from AC Management, 21 teams presented a Notice of Entry and 17 were accepted. Three of the entered teams are pending minor details towards their official registration and have been granted an extension until January 15. Three other teams were denied entry as no further documentation beyond the Notice of Entry was received by the December 15 entry deadline.
The teams are from 12 countries, primarily from Europe, though there are entries from New Zealand, South Africa, and China.
"Having 19 teams from 12 countries entered for the 33rd America's Cup is a clear expression of the huge worldwide interest in the competition," said Brad Butterworth, Alinghi team skipper, in the statement. "It's fantastic to see such an international fleet with newcomers such as Russia."
Butterworth said it was "significant" that every team but BMW Oracle have re-entered this year's Cup. "We will continue to work together with these challengers to make the 33rd America's Cup a success, regardless of BMW Oracle's decision to pursue their legal strategy to eliminate all challengers and force their way into an America's Cup Match, something they have never achieved on the water," he said.
BMW Oracle did not issue a statement by presstime regarding the large number of entries. But Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle Corp., told the Associated Press that his team would ignore the entry deadline and let a New York appeals court decide the future of the 33rd America's Cup.
If Oracle's sponsor, the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) wins the court battle, it is likely that BMW Oracle and Alinghi would meet in a one-on-one showdown in giant multihulls. "There's no chance we will agree to the set of rules that Alinghi currently has on the table. No way," Ellison told the AP. "They want us to agree to this set of rules, but they won't tell us what the rules are. It's crazy."
GGYC had petitioned the New York State Supreme Court to become the "Challenger of Record", which would allow it to help Alinghi set the rules for the upcoming America's Cup. The lower court earlier ruled in favor of GGYC. But last summer, the court's appellate division overturned the decision and ruled that a Spanish yacht club, Desafío Español should be the Challenger of Record. GGYC contends that the Spanish club was set up by Alinghi to allow it to form its own rules. The appellate court will hear more arguments in February and is expected to render a final decision within several months of that hearing.
Pending the court's decision, AC Management is going ahead with its plans to hold the America's Cup in Valencia. It has scheduled two pre-regattas in Valencia in 2009, the first in July and the second in October, plus the Club Náutico Español de Vela annual regatta in November, followed by an America's Cup Match in 2010.
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