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GENEVA -- America's Cup holder Alinghi and 10 challengers began creating rules for the next regatta Tuesday, again asking BMW Oracle Racing to drop its lawsuit and join them.

The teams agreed to work together writing rules for a 33rd America's Cup they hope will happen in 2010, and to elect two new members to an arbitration panel tasked with ensuring fair play.

"As challengers we've never had the luxury of this much involvement," Mike Sanderson, skipper of the British entry Team Origin, told The Associated Press by phone. "Everything is up for discussion and there's no sacred ground."

The meeting at Alinghi's home yacht club in Geneva came two weeks after 12 teams met in an attempt to get the America's Cup back on the water after a year of legal wrangling.

The teams are scheduled to meet again in Geneva early next month, before a Dec. 15 deadline to enter the 33rd America's Cup.

Alinghi defended its title against Team New Zealand in a regatta off Valencia, Spain, in July 2007.

San Francisco-based BMW Oracle Racing has been in a court fight trying to become the Challenger of Record, which would give it the right to help Alinghi set the rules for the next multichallenger America's Cup.

A decision by the New York State Court of Appeals is expected next year. Because of its pending appeal, BMW Oracle Racing has not been involved in the relaunch meetings.

Sanderson repeated the request Tuesday for BMW Oracle Racing to drop the suit and join the Geneva talks.

"There is still a lawsuit out there that is potentially ruining America's Cup sailing," Sanderson said. "Apart from the lawsuit everything has been laid out beautifully."

Golden Gate Yacht Club spokesman Tom Ehman said legal action will be dropped when Alinghi adopts fair and competitive rules.

"While it is unfortunate that we won't be part of the process, we are hopeful that the other challengers can still achieve the goal of establishing fair rules with [Alinghi]," Ehman said.

After the Geneva meeting, Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth said the process of preparing for the Cup was "as fair as it has ever been."

"It is above reproach," Butterworth told the AP by phone. "We are trying to make teams like Oracle feel like there is a fair and democratic process."

Teams from Belgium, Britain, France, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden and South Africa joined their Swiss host to agree on selecting a race committee and choosing regatta officials from sailing's governing body, the ISAF.

Butterworth said the promise to add two members to increase the arbitration panel to five was a positive step.

"That should go a long way to making [BMW Oracle] feel more comfortable, and to see that things are transparent," he said.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press