Again, America’s Cup Defended by Lawyers

New Zealand’s Mercury Bay Boating Club will get yet another day in court in its pursuit of the America’s Cup.

In a surprising announcement Tuesday, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court said it had granted leave for New Zealand to take its case to the last possible legal venue, the New York Court of Appeals. No vote or reason was given in the terse announcement.

New York Supreme Court Justice Carmen Ciparick had ruled March 28 that San Diego’s use of a catamaran to defend the Cup last year was illegal and awarded sailing’s top prize to Mercury Bay. The Appellate Division overturned that decision by a 4-1 vote Sept. 19, and lawyers on both sides said the lopsided ruling provided little chance that New Zealand would be allowed to appeal further.

Gene Trepte, chairman of San Diego’s America’s Cup Defense Committee, said: “(The) decision makes life even more difficult for our fledgling defense syndicates. Non-American syndicates will continue to design, build and train, knowing they will be challengers in either San Diego or New Zealand.”

Coincidental with the court’s announcement, representatives of 10 potential defense syndicates--including those featuring Dennis Conner and his former Stars & Stripes navigator, Peter Isler, as skippers--met Tuesday in San Diego to discuss plans for the defender selection trials.

ACOC spokesman Tom Mitchell said the ruling “doesn’t change our plans.”

Initially, San Diego had hoped to defend the Cup in 1991. The legal fight pushed it into ‘92, and now the major concern is that it will be carried into ’93 because, by agreement of the major potential competitors, no defense can start until 24 months following the end of all litigation relating to the previous defense.

“Mercury Bay was saying not long ago how they wanted to expedite this,” Mitchell said. “We’re going to hold them to that. If they don’t file for an expedited hearing, we will.”

San Diego’s lawyers indicated that if both sides file papers early in December, a hearing could be conducted in January and a decision rendered by March--still a two-month leeway in looking to a defense round starting in May of ’92.

Other groups at Tuesday’s meeting represented five potential defense syndicates from San Diego, one each from Long Beach and San Francisco and three from the East Coast.