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Spain's America's Cup challenger, Desafio Espanol, announced that it was pulling out due to the uncertainty over the next edition of the world premier yachting event.

"Yes, it's true, we are stopping and the team is breaking up," a spokesman for the team told AFP.

Spanish media said Desafio's main sponsor, Spanish power group Iberdrola, wants the team to focus on other events, notably the Volvo round-the-world race.

Desafio in 2007 reached the semi-final of the Louis-Vuitton Cup, a competition to find the official challenger for the America's Cup final.

The 2007 America's Cup, staged in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia, was won by Swiss team Alinghi, which has since been embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with US team Oracle over the rules for the next edition.

Desafio was at the centre of the dispute, since it was chosen by Alinghi as its official Challenger of Record, which would give it the right to help organise the next America's Cup.

But a New York court last month ruled in favour of Oracle that Desafio was ineligible to hold that position since it had not held a regatta in its home port, under the 19th century rules that govern the oldest international trophy in sport.

That ruling also means that Alinghi and Oracle are likely to hold a multihull duel to decide the next America's Cup, rather than a traditional regatta involving multiple challengers.

AFP