Russell Coutts, one of the most dominant skippers in America's Cup history, flew halfway around the world on Saturday to inspect a giant boat that might never reach the starting line because of a court's decision.

Coutts' trip to Anacortes, Wash., to check on the 90-foot multihull boat being built for BMW Oracle Racing had been planned long before a New York court on Tuesday threw yet another 180-degree turn into a yearlong court fight surrounding the oldest trophy in international sports.

Coutts disagreed with the decision, saying it could be 'disastrous' for the future of the America's Cup. He even hinted that BMW Oracle Racing, the only American-backed syndicate currently operating, might not compete in the next regatta if it doesn't win its last-chance appeal.

On Tuesday, the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled 3-2 that Spain's Club Nautico Espanol de Vela should be the Challenger of Record, giving it the right to negotiate terms of the next multichallenger competition with the current America's Cup holder, Alinghi of Switzerland.

The decision, based on what the court said was 'ambiguous' language in the Deed of Gift, the century-old document that governs the America's Cup, reversed a lower-court ruling that made San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, which backs BMW Oracle Racing, the Challenger of Record.

GGYC filed an appeal on Friday with the New York State Court of Appeals in Albany.

GGYC has contended for a year that the Spanish club was a sham and that the Swiss were trying to tilt the rules for the next regatta in their favor.

'If Alinghi gets away with this, it probably will signal the end of the America's Cup as we know it,' Coutts said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

'This isn't just about patching up an event. This potentially is going to be a really, really important precedent for the future of the Cup for many, many years to come,' Coutts said. 'We think it's very, very clear that the challenger needs to be a real yacht club. We think the Deed is crystal clear on that. Any other interpretation of that is mistaken and is going to be disastrous for the Cup.'

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by The Associated Press/Int Herald Tribune

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