Well, who’d have thought it? The America’s Cup is going to court.

Or it might do, if the Golden Gate Yacht Club and the Société Nautique de Genève don’t come to some sort of agreement before the terms of engagement for the next America’s Cup are thrashed out in the New York courts. The billionaire stag rutting season has come early for Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli.

While they are far from being underdogs, you can’t help rooting for GGYC and Ellison. Given the proposed changes to the rule and the disadvantage they will have compared with Alinghi, spending the money upfront by going legal on their asses could be the most competitive decision they ever have to take.

Anyway, I notice that GGYC’s commodore, Marcus Young, has been coat-trailing in the club’s latest press release, saying: “We still hope SNG will accept GGYC as Challenger of Record even before the court has to rule on our lawsuit.”

Now, who’s got most money and prestige to lose?