Defending America’s Cup champion Alinghi of Switzerland came up a winner off the water on Monday when a New York judge ruled that a showdown against the United States can’t begin until mid-March.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Herman Cahn settled a dispute between billionaires when he ruled that the 10-month challenge period for San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club, which backs BMW Oracle Racing, began on Monday.

That would make March 12 the earliest possible date for the start of a rare best-of-three showdown, or Deed of Gift Match.

Cahn ordered that the match be sailed in Valencia, Spain, or any other location selected by the Swiss, provided they give the Americans six months notice.

However, the Deed of Gift, the 19th-century document that governs the America’s Cup, prohibits racing in the Northern Hemisphere from Nov. 1-May 1.

BMW Oracle Racing spokesman Tom Ehman said his group’s lawyers hadn’t had time to study Cahn’s ruling, including the implications of the March dates in the Northern Hemisphere.

“Overall we’re pleased this thing has come down and that he’s moved the process forward,” Ehman said by phone from the syndicate’s base in Valencia. “It doesn’t look like we got everything we wanted, but we got a firm date and six months notice on the venue, which is good.

“Obviously we were hoping for October and now that he said March, we’ll have to consider that and see what the implications are,” Ehman said.

Alinghi representatives weren’t immediately available for comment.

GGYC felt it had the right to sail for the oldest trophy in international sports in October. Alinghi, sponsored by the Societe Nautique de Geneve, was holding out for July 2009, saying it needed the proper amount of time to build its 90-foot multihull boat.

Ernesto Bertarelli, the Swiss biotech tycoon who owns and sails aboard Alinghi, said recently that his syndicate hadn’t started building a boat.

BMW Oracle Racing, owned by Silicon Valley maverick Larry Ellison, is building a boat in Anacortes, Wash., but won’t say whether its a catamaran or trimaran.

Cahn said it would be “inequitable” to deprive Alinghi of the full 10-month notice of challenge to prepare its boat.

The dispute began in July, a week after Alinghi retained the silver trophy with a 5-2 victory over Team New Zealand in Valencia, Spain.

Alinghi announced it had chosen a Spanish yacht club to serve as Challenger of Record and help the Swiss negotiate the rules for the next multi-challenge regatta. GGYC, which also issued a challenge, then sued, saying the Spanish club was a sham and that the Swiss were trying to tilt the rules in their favor.

Cahn decided in November that GGYC was the valid Challenger of Record.

Since BMW Oracle Racing and Alinghi couldn’t agree on terms for a traditional America’s Cup regatta, the Deed of Gift Match was the next option.

Golden Gate’s original challenge called for racing this July. After Cahn’s Nov. 27 order, the GGYC proposed the races be sailed in October. The Swiss argued that the 10-month period should have been suspended during the legal fight.

In mid-April, Alinghi appealed Cahn’s ruling that GGYC is the Challenger of Record. The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court has set a hearing for June 5.

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Associated Press Writer Samuel Maull in New York contributed to this report.