Sports Briefing | Sailing
America’s Cup contenders resolve dispute
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ernesto Bertarelli, the owner of the defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland, and Larry Ellison of the American challenger BMW Oracle Racing, ended their America’s Cup showdown on Sunday in a secret out-of-court negotiation. In response to this surprising development, a New York Supreme Court judge canceled the hearing previously scheduled for April 2. The two sailing giants agreed to a match race using the Olympic class Laser Standard, a single-handed one-design dinghy. Bertarelli will have Ben Ainslie, a two time Olympic gold medalist in the Finn and the Laser, as his helmsman, and Ellison will give the nod to Russell Coutts, also an Olympic gold medalist (Finn) and three time previous winner of the America’s Cup. Ainslie and Coutts began training today at the Bay of Palma for the competition that will be held beginning April 1, 2009 at Palma de Mallorca.
America’s Cup contenders resolve dispute
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ernesto Bertarelli, the owner of the defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland, and Larry Ellison of the American challenger BMW Oracle Racing, ended their America’s Cup showdown on Sunday in a secret out-of-court negotiation. In response to this surprising development, a New York Supreme Court judge canceled the hearing previously scheduled for April 2. The two sailing giants agreed to a match race using the Olympic class Laser Standard, a single-handed one-design dinghy. Bertarelli will have Ben Ainslie, a two time Olympic gold medalist in the Finn and the Laser, as his helmsman, and Ellison will give the nod to Russell Coutts, also an Olympic gold medalist (Finn) and three time previous winner of the America’s Cup. Ainslie and Coutts began training today at the Bay of Palma for the competition that will be held beginning April 1, 2009 at Palma de Mallorca.