COURT RETURNS AMERICA'S CUP TO SAN DIEGO

September 21, 1989

An appeals court sank New Zealand's claim on the America's Cup and returned it to the San Diego Yacht Club, but one more court challenge looms over sailing's biggest prize. New Zealander Michael Fay said he intends to appeal the 4-to-1 decision by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court Sept. 19.

The San Diego club lost the prize in a lower-court decision that said the Americans' use of a catamaran breached the spirit of the century-old rules of the competition.