Ben Ainslie will be pitted against a familiar foe in the first race of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series tomorrow. Yesterday's draw paired Ainslie's Team Origin, the British entry for the 33rd America's Cup, with Luna Rossa, an Italian team whose second helmsman is Robert Scheidt.

Ainslie twice contested an Olympic gold medal in the Laser class with Scheidt, coming second to the Brazilian in 1996 but beating him in 2000. Last summer Scheidt was again pipped to the Olympic gold, this time in the Star class by Andrew Simpson and Iain Percy, of Great Britain, both of whom are in Team Origin.

The Louis Vuitton round-robin event in Auckland is the second in a series of informal regattas to keep the competing teams for the next America's Cup active while a New York court decides whether it can go ahead. Origin came third in a regatta in Valencia in November, behind Alinghi, the America's Cup holders from Switzerland, and Luna Rossa.

“After everything that has been going on for the past 18 months it is great to see the teams on the water again,” Ainslie said, referring to the legal battle between Alinghi and BMW Oracle, the American team, over the staging of the next America's Cup. The court will hear a final appeal by Alinghi on February 10. If the Swiss team win in court, a multiteam America's Cup regatta could be held early next year, but if the ruling favours Oracle, the cup is likely to be decided in a head-to-head race between Oracle and Alinghi.

“If Oracle win, it could be pretty terminal for most of the teams,” Ainslie said. An unprecedented 19 teams have entered the America's Cup, of which ten are competing in New Zealand. Team Origin have given their backing to Alinghi after the holders agreed to revise the rules that they had offered for the next America's Cup. “We now think that it's a fair protocol that will mean a dynamic contest,” Ainslie said.