Holders Alinghi have gone through with their plan to take American challengers BMW Oracle back to court for a final ruling on the dates for the next America's Cup.

After failing to reach agreement with their rivals at a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, the Swiss outfit have formally requested a hearing with the same New York judge who in November ordered the two teams to face off in a best-of-three series.

BMW Oracle want to hold the event in October but Alinghi are arguing that the 10-month preparation time laid down in the competition's 121-year-old rules began only when the judge confirmed his ruling last week.

"[The] present effort to dictate a race date in 2008 is, simply stated, an effort to seize the America's Cup through litigation rather than by winning on the water," Alinghi's lawyers said in a letter handed to the court.

"America's Cup racing vessels cost tens of millions of dollars to build. Furthermore, given that the proposed match contemplates boats of a novel type and scale not yet ever built, the 10-month notice period which was adequate in 1887 is itself marginal at best for this event."

Under the terms of the Deed of Gift rules, BMW Oracle can name the type of boat used for the race. They have said they will opt for large-scale multi-hull boats.

New York State Supreme Judge Herman Cahn has already told both teams that he would rule on a date if they were unable to agree on one between themselves.

BMW Oracle spokesman Tom Ehman said recently that his team had no concerns about going back to the New York court, named in the America's Cup rules as the final authority for disputes arising from the competition.

"We believe the date we offered them is valid and that the judge will confirm that," Ehman said. "The bottom line is that the sooner we get this thing on the water the better."

The winner of the two-boat series will have the right to organise the subsequent America's Cup event under the more usual multi-team format.

Reuters