Rivals turn on OneWorld

America's Cup challengers quarter-finalists Prada and Team Dennis Conner reignited a bitter Cup spying scandal on Monday by calling for the disqualification of rival OneWorld for using other teams' boat design secrets.

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Italy's Prada and Conner's U.S. team launched an extraordinary attack against Seattle-based OneWorld team by accusing it of "multiple contraventions" of Cup rules which state each Cup team must have its own, independent boat design team.

Conner, four-time winner of the America's Cup, and Prada have lodged an application asking an independent arbitration panel for a "full and timely" investigation of OneWorld's Cup bid after they received new information about OneWorld's boat design work.

"Applicants seek from the panel a ruling that (OneWorld) is not eligible to be a challenger for the XXXI America's Cup and therefore should be disqualified both for the Louis Vuitton Cup and for the Match itself," Prada and Conner's team said.

OneWorld, backed by telecoms investor Craig McCaw and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, have denied any wrongdoing and said they had already been penalised for inadvertent breaches of the rules before the Louis Vuitton Cup challengers series began off Auckland, New Zealand, last month.

"This is a desperate act by desperate people who want to fight this on shore instead of on the water," OneWorld director Bob Ratliffe said on Monday.

Team Dennis Conner are drawn to sail OneWorld in a best-of-seven challengers quarter-final elimination repechage.

Prada, the defending challengers champions, are to sail Sweden's Victory Challenge for a place in the semi-finals against either Alinghi of Switzerland or U.S. team Oracle BMW Racing.