What happens if Ernesto declines?

It's crunch time. Apart from curious attempts by Alinghi lawyers to protest Justice Cahn's ruling in the New York Supreme Court (NYSC) that Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) is the official challenger for the 33rd Edition of the America's Cup, we are approaching high noon. Gunfight at the OK corral. Actually, for Ernesto (Bertarelli, SUI), it's more like armageddon.

Unless the New York Supreme Court goes bananas, which is unlikely, Ernesto must face GGYC on the water, in a multihull, on the date the NYSC decrees.

Then it's a huge mano-a-mano contest, at great speed and with great skill, pitching a skipper who doesn't love multihulls, Alinghi's Brad Butterworth (NZL), against a skipper who does, Oracle's Russell Coutts (NZL).

If this goes to the water, we hope the ultimate victor will restore the trust, credibility and faith that all of us have in America's Cup (which is what future AC sponsors also desperately need to have their goals and ambitions approved by their boards and shareholders).

Our hope is that the victors will restore an America's Cup America's Cup.

But if Ernesto declines the contest, what happens?

Ernesto is a proud, arrogant and pathologically determined man, but even the pathologically-challenged have their limits.

Ernesto has run off most sponsors, including the great and good Louis Vuitton; he has abused Spain and Valencia; he has run up a huge tab with Team New Zealand (which he must pay if AC33 is delayed); he has insulted every traditional AC classicist on the planet with his manipulation of the Deed of Gift; and for a couple of months, he has hidden himself from view.

Be that as it may.

Ernesto will face the music, pretty soon.

Nobody is discussing it, nobody is thinking about it, but given his pathology and his functional inability to attract life-giving, life-breathing and life-sustaining sponsors, what happens if Ernesto stands down?

What happens if he declines the challenge?

What happens if he decamps, protects his resources (in order to refresh and recharge), and then returns as a challenger normale whenever the real America's Cup resumes?

What happens if Ernesto does that?