MADRID, July 24 - BMW Oracle have backing from various other America's Cup teams in their case against holders Alinghi, syndicate owner Larry Ellison said on Tuesday.

BMW Oracle are taking the Swiss defenders to court for agreeing what they say are "unreasonable and unfair" rules for the next America's Cup and for signing the protocol for the event with a new yacht club they argue is illegitimate.

Alinghi's club SNG rejected those allegations and said on Tuesday it would not accept BMW Oracle's current challenge for the 33rd America's Cup.

Ellison said he met other America's Cup teams in the Spanish city of Valencia on Tuesday and they had agreed on certain elements of how the next regatta should be run, including rules on how the new, longer America's Cup class boats should be built.

"There was pretty broad agreement among the challengers," Ellison told reporters on a conference call.

"The outcome we'd like is to negotiate a reasonable protocol with Alinghi. Nobody wants it to go to court," the software magnate said.

"Right now, we don't think any team has any chance of winning other than Alinghi. Why would we race under these rules?"

Ellison particularly contested rules that would allow Alinghi to throw any team out of the event, choose the umpires, race the challengers and decide how to build the new America's Cup boats.

"We believe Alinghi have been designing their new boat for several months while we can't start until Alinghi tell us what the class rule is," he said.

It is one of the dearly held traditions of the America's Cup that the winner takes all and can decide exactly how to defend the "Auld Mug". Traditionally, the rules have been agreed with the challenger.

Ellison worked closely with Alinghi owner Ernesto Bertarelli to set up the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia, which was widely hailed as bringing the event into the 21st century and hugely increasing its fan base.

Alinghi defended the America's Cup in a thrilling best-of-nine against Team New Zealand earlier this month.

Ellison said he had spoken to Bertarelli about the protocol guidelines Alinghi signed with a new Spanish club to govern the 33rd America's Cup but they had not reached any agreement.

BMW Oracle challenged Alinghi to accept them as the legitimate challenger of record and to race a head-to-head in 90-foot catamarans next year. SNG said that was "disrupting and damaging" for the America's Cup.