MADRID - A COURT in New York on Tuesday ruled in favour of US team BMW Oracle against defending America's Cup champion Alinghi of Switzerland in a legal row over the rules of the yacht race, setting the stage for a rare multihull duel between the two sides.

New York State Supreme Court judge Herman Cahn refused to hear new arguments from Alinghi in the dispute, letting stand his November decision that Oracle be the Challenger of Record and not a Spanish team picked by the Swiss team.

Alinghi, which represents Societe Nautique de Geneve, said it would not appeal the ruling and offered to race Oracle in July 2009 for the 33rd America's Cup.

Asked about the timing of the duel proposed by Alignhi, an Oracle spokesman refused to comment, saying only that the US team had been calling for a race in October 2008.

'We want to have this race as soon as possible,' he said.

Alinghi had selected Club Nautico Espanol de Vela, a Spanish team, to be the Challenger of Record after it won the last America's Cup in Valencia, Spain in July 2007 with a 5-2 defeat over Team New Zealand.

But in July Oracle filed a lawsuit accusing Alinghi of unfairly naming Desafio as its challenger and of adopting a protocol for the sailing showpiece which is unfairly weighed in the Swiss defender's favour.

The US team had argued that the Spanish syndicate is an invalid challenger since it never held a regatta as required under the 'Deed of Gift", the 1887 document which outlines the rules for the America's Cup. The New York Supreme Court is the trustee of the Deed of Gift.

In November the organizers indefinitely postponed the 33rd edition of the America's Cup, the world's longest-running sports competition, because of the uncertainty raised by the legal challenge.

It had been set to take place in Valencia in July 2009 as a traditional regatta involving several teams.

The last America's Cup in Valencia featured 11 challengers. It was the first time that the event was held at a European port in its history.

If Alinghi wins its multihull duel against Oracle, it will stage a 'world class multi-challenge event in 2011' in Valencia, the team's lawyer Lucien Masmejan in a statement.

Both Oracle, which represents the Golden Gate Yacht Club of San Francisco, and Alinghi have been preparing for a possible duel using multihulls.

Last month Alinghi began practicing in the waters off Valencia in Extreme40 catamarans.

Alinghi's billionaire boss, Ernesto Bertarelli, had argued that the changes to the yacht race which his side had proposed, which included the use of larger boats, would have made the event more exciting and profitable.

Earlier this month Team New Zealand filed a case in a New York court against Alinghi demanding 'tens of million of euros' in compensation from the Swiss team over the 33rd America's Cup's postponement. --AFP