Russell Coutts, the most successful America's Cup skipper in history, now at loggerheads with the current Swiss holders, might be the only cup sailor in 153 years to have the rules altered expressly with him in mind.

When the Swiss won the cup under Coutts' leadership in Auckland 15 months ago, they issued a protocol which diluted the nationality rules and liberalized the movements of sailors.

In January, this was made more restrictive, tying a sailor from 2006 onwards to any team he had sailed with since the last cup. This is why Coutts has not steered Alinghi's SUI 64 since Auckland.

But last week, protocol clause 13.12 was screwed down even further, forbidding a sailor to swap teams if he had been "contracted, engaged, paid or otherwise engaged" by a team for 180 days since the last cup. This means that if Coutts does not sail for Alinghi in 2007, he cannot switch to a rival team.

"I don't support the change," Coutts said. "It's bad for the event and bad for sailing. To issue a rule that's backdated is just wrong."