MADRID (AFP) - Days after a court ruling forced Alinghi and Oracle to organise a multi-hull duel for the next America's Cup, the Swiss champions and the US challenger are wrangling over the date for the race.

Alinghi has offered to race Oracle in July 2009 for the 33rd America's Cup, but the US team is insisting on October 2008, the Swiss syndicate said Friday.

"We communicated to them that to have a fair and high-quality race the event must take place in 2009," Alinghi said in a statement.

"It is simply impossible for us to construct a boat to defend the Cup in a seven-month time frame as (Oracle) currently proposes."

It released a letter it received from Oracle in which the Americans stood by their choice of October 2008.

"We do not believe it is appropriate to delay the match an entire year as you propose," the Oracle letter said. It was not immediately possible to reach an Oracle spokesman for comment.

A meeting between the two sides is scheduled for next week, but if no agreement is reached the matter will return to the New York court.

In its statement, Alinghi accused Oracle of seeking to avoid "a fair duel on the water."

The court on Tuesday ruled in favour of Oracle against Alinghi in a legal row over the rules of the yacht race, setting the stage for the rare multi-hull duel between the two sides.

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 Oracle's legal challenge.

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

Alinghi retained the America's Cup by beating Team New Zealand in a hugely successful event in Valencia in July.