Ernesto, onward!

Ernesto loves sailing and loves winning. But frankly, we are tired of coaching him. He doesn't listen. We have given up trying to understand his psychology. He is an enigma. Nevertheless, here we go, yet again, plunging into the maelstrom.

We urge you, Ernesto, to negotiate. Look at the situation.

Everything is moving along, honkey dory. The challengers are united, and committed to a conventional America's Cup in 2009. Even the celebrated 'Nine Points' survive, a great concession to you, to Valencia, and to the Cup, with even greater commitments from all challengers for Valencia as the host for America's Cup 34, the edition that will follow in 2010 or 2011. This is great for everyone.

Noise from Valencia suggests that a bona fide challenger's series may even attract the interest of experienced sponsors, such as Louis Vuitton, who departed rather than embrace your original protocol. Perhaps Louis Vuitton, perhaps not.

Interestingly, the challengers even embrace 90-foot boats, even if purists and perhaps even the great sailor and great purist Mr. Troublé (of Louis Vuitton) do not. That's something to embrace, isn't it? You said you wanted planing boats. They will create them for you. It may take some explaining, however, for Mr. Troublé. But he is a gentleman, and gentlemen always listen to reason.

The big fact in all of this, however, as if you hadn't noticed, is money.

You haven't been able to attract sponsors to support your version of AC33, perhaps because you never asked, or never asked the right way, or didn't bother, or perhaps because you never had a mandate for the event.

Now America's Cup itself has the mandate. Judge Cahn returned it to the challengers.

And yet the challengers are willing to work with you to make things happen. They are ready to pick up where negotiations were abandoned by your people -- your lawyers, your skipper, and even you.

You owe it to America's Cup, to the City of Valencia, to Spain, to your nominating club (an organization with apparently inexhaustable patience), and to your fabulous team, to say yes.

If you do not say yes, Alinghi loses. Valencia loses. You probably also lose on the water, in multihull hydrofoils. The Cup possibly even departs for San Francisco. Then Alinghi loses again, so does Valencia, so does the Cup, and a great legacy is squandered.

You aren't listening, we know that. You only listen to you.

But you are smart. Even you know, if you truly believe in America's Cup, that the shortest step and the greatest honor is sitting down and making AC33 happen as it should, as a classic America's Cup, for all nations, in 2009.

As difficult for you as that may be.

But you have courage in abundance, and it only takes a little courage to do this.

You may think the courageous path is multihulls.

That's not courage. That's lunacy.