/world sport
BARCELONA, Spain -- The next America's Cup will begin on July 18, 2009, with the defending champions participating in the round-robin stages for the first time.
Alinghi retained the America's Cup by beating Team New Zealand earlier this year.
Under the new rules, Swiss holders Alinghi can join the early elimination races and the semifinals -- formerly known as the Louis Vuitton Cup -- starting on May 2 off Valencia.
However, they will be there only to test their boat, before facing the official challenger in the final from July 18.
"We are pleased to announce an event format that will produce more sailing than ever before and hopefully will stimulate new teams to enter the competition," said America's Cup Management chief executive Michel Hodara.
Under the new rules, the eight or 10 probable challengers will be allowed two boats in the new AC90 class, bigger and faster than the America Class (V5) used in this year's race.
However, they cannot train with these two boats at the same time and only one boat can be used in the preliminary rounds.
Desafio Espanol, Team Origin of Britain, Team New Zealand, United Internet Team Germany and Shosholoza of South Africa have already entered the 2009 competition and took part in the six-week process to draw up the regulations.
However, the next edition of yachting's premier event is still threatened by a legal dispute between Alinghi and US syndicate Oracle, which fears the new rules give the Swiss team an unfair advantage. A New York court began hearing Oracle's legal challenge earlier this month.
Alinghi won the America's Cup in July in Valencia, defeating Emirates Team New Zealand 5-2 in a best-of-nine race final. E-mail to a friend 
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