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Alinghi team president Ernesto Bertarelli dismissed the fears of rivals BMW Oracle about holding the America's Cup so close to Iran as the stuff of a Hollywood script.
"Sometimes when I read a press release it seems like I read the trailer of a Hollywood movie," Bertarelli, the billionaire owner of the America's Cup defender, said at a news conference on Sunday.
He added: "Let's get real and let's get sailing. Stop inventing stuff."
Software executive Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle team, which sails under the colours of the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), and Alinghi have been locked in a legal dispute for more than two years over the terms of the 33rd America's Cup.
Oracle said in court papers filed in New York early this month the 2010 race should be moved to Valencia in Spain, citing a US State Department advisory warning Americans to "exercise a high level of security awareness" due to possible attacks from al Qaeda and other militant groups.
One of seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, Ras al-Khaimah is the closest to Iran, separated by about 80 miles across the Gulf.
Bertarelli said he was confident the Cup would take place according to schedule in Feb. 2010. The team and the Alinghi 5 catamaran, a carbon composite construction, arrived on Sept. 30.
"If I need to go a third or fourth time to meet Larry in San Francisco I'll go, but the issue is rather that Larry should come here," he said
