America’s Cup : Sail America Says Fay Can Hold Other Races to Pick Cup Challenger

Sail America Foundation said Thursday there is no objection in allowing other nations to challenge New Zealand for the right to compete for the America’s Cup.

In a New York court hearing Wednesday, attorneys for the defenders of the cup said they would not object if a syndicate other than Michael Fay’s New Zealand Challenge raced on behalf of the Kiwis off Long Beach this fall.

Rebecca Heyl, media relations director for the foundation, said it would be up to Fay to decide whether to meet Britain’s Peter de Savary or some other challenger in a race to see who will battle the San Diego Yacht Club for the cup on behalf of Fay’s Mercury Bay Boating Club.

In Perth, Australia, the Bond syndicate, the largest of the Australian challengers, rejected the offer as an empty gesture.

The syndicate, backed by Australian businessman Alan Bond, won the America’s Cup for Australia off Newport, R.I. in 1983. It issued a release that claimed it would be impossible for the Australian syndicate to put forward a challenger in time.

The petition filed Wednesday by the Royal Burnham Yacht Club demands that the San Diego Yacht Club open the next cup defense to all competitors rather than restrict it to a match race between San Diego and New Zealand.

It accused the SDYC and Sail America Foundation of failing to properly handle the cup and asked that the trophy be turned over to its previous holder, the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Australia.

San Diego, in an uneasy courtroom alliance with New Zealand, has expressed sympathy with Royal Burnham, but is arguing that its hands are tied by the judge’s November ruling that forced them to accept the Kiwi challenge.