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New Zealanders file AC court actions
11 Mar 2008
The Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG), Team Alinghi and its owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, together with the AC organising company, America's Cup Management (ACM), are jointly and severally charged with a breach of contract in not organising an event in 2009, as contracted with the New Zealand team.
According to AC observer Bob Fisher, more pertinent may be the charge against ACM of breach of trust in endeavouring to organise a one-sided competition under the rules and regulations ACM announced with the connivance of the Spanish yacht club that was subsequently disqualified as the Challenger of Record.
The New Zealanders had a contract with ACM for an event in 2009, but ACM has said this will not happen. Emirates New Zealand has laid off nearly a third of its squad as it faces a lengthy wait for legal decisions.
One NZ press article claimed TNZ had laid off more than 20 people as it struggled to stretch its budget to take into account the long delays.
Emirates Team New Zealand is seeking damages of US$12m.
Alinghi's legal counsel says the team was disappointed to learn of the legal actions by Emirates Team New Zealand and claim the actions 'are totally without merit, wildly miss the target and will be defended rigorously'.
Forbes magazine says Bertarelli is worth $10.3bn, while BMW Oracle's Larry Ellison is worth $25bn.
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