The end of the America's Cup affair

By GEOFF CUMMING

As a piping hot northerly sends boats on their ears in the Whitsunday Islands, cruise yacht skipper Ross Berkman is singing the praises of his Kiwi crew. In these idyllic sailing waters, the reputation of our sailors is a ticket to ride and New Zealand accents call the shots on most of the charter boats.

And as foreign holidaymakers bait the Australians about needing Kiwis to sail their boats properly, conversation inevitably leads to the America's Cup.

Among the British, American and Australian tourists, there is keen interest in the challenger series on the Hauraki Gulf, and in New Zealand's upcoming defence.

Queenslander Berkman leaves them in no doubt that New Zealand will keep the cup.

"They deserve it," he says. "They're the best sailors in the world, the best designers and the best boatbuilders - it's always been that way."

The tourists join in, praising New Zealand's David vs Goliath achievements, not only in winning the cup but in defending it against big-budget overseas syndicates.

So they are taken aback to learn that, closer to the action, the entire population is not preparing to don red socks and heave a collective breath to blow Team New Zealand to victory in February.

There are locals who profess complete indifference to the possibility that Dean Barker's crew could be beaten by New Zealanders sailing under foreign flags - with all the implications that losing the cup holds for our marine industry, tourism and Viaduct Harbour bars.

Whether it's the weather, the boat-hopping by Team New Zealand sailors and designers, or the tiresome allegations of spying and cheating, the romance associated with the first cup defence is missing this time.

Any loyalty to Team New Zealand seems motivated by a sense of good-for-business pragmatism. There's general belief that this year's challenger series has failed to gather the momentum which swept the public along in 1999.

Critics blame the drawn-out wrangle over OneWorld's access to Team New Zealand's design secrets and the challengers' refusal to sail in more than a zephyr of wind. Their insistence that they race only in conditions expected for the defence has forced 18 race postponements to date.

Opinion is also split about the merits of a racing format which has dispatched most of the challengers before Christmas.

"The biggest disappointment has been the interruptions to the racing," said one Viaduct Harbour regular. "No one's been able to get into it.

"It's making us look silly - as if the Hauraki Gulf's a useless place to sail a yacht race."

Reaction to this week's move by Team New Zealand to prevent syndicates using new boats in the challenger final highlights the divergent tacks people take towards the cup.

The defender is concerned that Alinghi and Oracle BMW Racing are developing copies of its supposed secret weapon, a false hull dubbed the Kiwi clip-on. Its letter to regatta director Dyer Jones seizes on a clause in the cup protocol which, Team NZ claims, implies that the challenger finalists must sail the yachts they use in the semifinals.

Foreign journalists have hailed Team New Zealand's latest innovation in a contest which is all about stretching the design limits to find a crucial edge.

Tim Jeffery, the Daily Telegraph correspondent who broke the story, calls it "one of the most creative circumventions of the design rules in 151 years of America's Cup racing".

But on talkback radio, in office lunchrooms and in bars and clubs, the controversy has revived concerns about dirty tricks and the contest being all about who has the best lawyers - and the most money.

Doubts about the appendage's legality recall previous ill-starred efforts to steal a march, such as Sir Michael Fay's big boat challenge and the bowsprit attached to New Zealand's 1992 challenger. The big boat challenge foundered in the United States courts while the 1992 campaign stalled under the weight of protests from rival syndicates.

Jones this week dismissed the Team New Zealand letter as stupid and accused the defender of trying to "stick it to the competitors".

Russell Coutts stuck his oar in and invoked the memory of Team New Zealand supremo Sir Peter Blake.

"The Team New Zealand I was involved in generally tried to steer clear of these rules challenges," he said. Sir Peter had urged the team to avoid litigation and "try to win this event on the water".

But it's a moot point whether such acrimony puts people off or adds interest to the cup.

The Team NZ letter has little potential to disrupt the event or discredit the contest as, ever since the big boat debacle, arguments about the cup protocol are ruled on by an arbitration panel.

Team New Zealand had already received an interpretation of the rules before developing the false hull. Other developments, such as the use of on-board umpires, have reduced the potential for disputes to linger off the water.

At the Whangamata Ocean Sports Club, the old sea dogs take such controversies with a grain of salt.

"It's part of the America's Cup," says manager Chris Webb. He says interest is strong, with hardcore and casual visitors gathering to follow progress on race days "wind or no wind".

Webb says debate still flickers about the arbitration panel's handling of the OneWorld saga - twice docking it one point for having Team New Zealand's design secrets. "We thought if you broke the rules you were out," he says.

The other sore point remains the defection of Coutts, Brad Butterworth and other Team NZ members to Swiss syndicate Alinghi soon after the 2000 defence.

"But everybody sails for everyone else, so they've all got that inside knowledge. Our members are more worried about whether we can hang on to it or not."

But Harry Bielby, secretary of the Tutukaka South Pacific Yacht Club which lodged Chris Dickson's 1992 challenge, says public enthusiasm for the event has inevitably waned.

"There's a little bit of deja vu this time around," says Bielby. "The novelty of having the America's Cup has largely gone for a lot of people.

"But it may heat up for the final and it looks like being all New Zealand in the last three.

"You could have Dean Barker facing Chris Dickson or Butterworth and Co."

Bielby says yachting followers distinguish the America's Cup from traditional club racing.

"It's not yachting as we know it. It's entertainment for most people. They keep up the pretence that the challengers and defenders belong to clubs, but it's really all about big business."

He says Team NZ's 2000 defence was unusual for the lack of off-the-water wrangling.

"You're basically dealing with a group of prima donnas. [Sir Peter] Blake held it together for a surprisingly long time. He wanted it to be fought out on the water, not in the courtrooms, but that's not the history of the America's Cup."

Nevertheless, the challenger series has exposed room for improvement next time around. As popular Prada's defence of the Louis Vuitton Cup came to a farcical end in fickle winds on Monday, syndicate chief Patrizio Bertelli echoed International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge's call for a fundamental change in the rules.

On a visit last week, Rogge said the cup would gain prestige if races were staged in stronger average wind conditions than the 19-knot limit imposed by the challengers.

Rogge also believes the legal wrangles that have marked this and previous cups are damaging.

"The public is interested in technological development, we see this also in Formula One," he said in an interview posted on the Louis Vuitton Cup website. "But I don't think the public is interested in, or likes, issues like the leaking of documents."

Challengers still maintain the rules are tilted in the defender's favour, with the restriction on racing on the defence course a favourite target.

But fans say the bickering is legitimate sporting psychology, like the mind games coaches play before big rugby games.

Cup follower John Holdsworth says the jockeying for off-the-water advantage has the potential to "lose its drama status and become a bit of a bore". But he still equates it to a sporting challenge - and national pride is at stake.

"We don't want some rich Swiss dude thinking he can buy it off us. I'll be quite proud if we can have a syndicate with half the money and beat the pants off him."

Around the Viaduct Harbour, restaurants and bars show no signs of any disenchantment with the contest or the weather, and charter boats are booked out at weekends.

Fullers Auckland America's Cup project manager Vanessa Freeman says the matchracing schedule this year, with fewer round robins, has lent a sharper edge to the racing.

"The weather's been a shame, but it hasn't put people off. We've had a lot of international visitors who come out once and are keen to go again."

And despite the defender's low profile during the challenger series, more than 20,000 have joined the Team New Zealand supporters' club through a merchandising deal with The Warehouse.

A realistic guide to public loyalty will come in the New Year as the red socks campaign is reactivated.

Team New Zealand executive director Tony Thomas does not expect any fallout from this week's bid to prevent challengers copying its hidden hull design.

"Most New Zealanders have lived through these sagas and they realise it's part of the event."

With such issues now dealt with by the arbitration panel, disputes are quickly resolved and "everyone gets on with the regatta. We haven't had any reaction from sponsors that it's slowing it down."

Thomas says the only problem to date has been the wind limits imposed by the challengers. "If anything's upsetting the rhythm, it's not racing in 21 or 22 knots. It's ridiculous."

Dyer Jones says for all the postponements, only two matches were not completed within the sailing schedule.

"There's no question that racing on the Hauraki Gulf is a very, very challenging exercise."

Jones says the racing schedule was built on lessons learned in 1999 and could be improved again.

"I'd be the first to say we haven't got it right yet, but I think this format is much more interesting than the round robin format used last time."

Controversy will always be a part of the cup, he says.

"Is it good for the event? Certainly not when it's disruptive to the purpose of the event as stated in the deed of gift, which is for friendly competition.

"But let's not forget this is a contest between a challenger and a defender. When issues can't be agreed by mutual consent, you have a dispute and the arbitration panel is settling things in a timely manner."

He agrees there's plenty of room for confusion over the rules.

International jury head Bryan Willis says it is confusing to have two independent bodies to settle disputes - the jury settling racing rule arguments and the arbitration panel ruling on deed of gift and cup protocol issues.

"I have great respect for the arbitration panel, but in my opinion, it would be better in future if the two were amalgamated. But the fundamental thing about the America's Cup class is that it's a design contest within whatever parameters are set.

"Designing a boat which is fast for the conditions is 80 per cent of it, unlike other competitions where all the boats are the same." The range of possibilities means the rules will constantly be queried.

"From my point of view, I know it sounds corny, but I want the best boat to win. I would feel very uncomfortable if somebody won through some trickery - but I expect every syndicate to go right up to the limit of the rules."

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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