Bertarelli millions fund Team NZ

By CATHERINE MASTERS

Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli has dipped into his own pocket to make sure New Zealand gets to the America's Cup.

The Herald can reveal that the Swiss billionaire, Team New Zealand's arch-rival, propped up the start of their campaign with a significant amount of money.

Last night, Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton said a deal had been struck, but it was a "no strings attached" loan which would be repaid.

The loan is believed to be for millions of dollars.

Dalton would not say how big the loan was, but when asked if it was in the tens of millions of dollars, he said: "Well, there wouldn't be much point doing it for $100, would there?"

The Herald understands that Bertarelli - the man who poached, then sacked, Russell Coutts - was worried the 2007 regatta in Valencia would not draw enough quality syndicates.

He wanted the New Zealanders to be there to pep up the racing and ensure that Europe's first hosting of the America's Cup was a success.

Dalton said the money was a loan from Bertarelli personally and was not connected with the Alinghi sailing team or AC Management, the company organising the regatta.

"It's a no-strings-attached deal, which means it's a money deal," he said.

"He has no involvement in any shape or form in Emirates Team New Zealand. It's a complete arm's-length deal."

Dalton said he had approached Bertarelli because they were old friends, and he was grateful for his help.

"I'm a sportsman. My job is to try to win the cup and bring it back to New Zealand, and this money helps do that.

"I believe Ernesto Bertarelli's motive was to ensure that Team New Zealand competes at Valencia because, in his view, the regatta would lose some of its appeal without us.

"It would be like holding the soccer World Cup without Brazil."

The deal was done about three months ago, just before the Middle Eastern airline Emirates became Team New Zealand's principal sponsor.

"As we disclosed when we launched the campaign in Auckland on June 14, Emirates Team New Zealand had not secured all the funding it required," Dalton said.

"The team had said many times that it would not go forward unless funding was in place, or if not actually in place, directors were confident of securing it."

Bertarelli knew this and also knew that the time was fast approaching when the team's directors would have to make a decision about whether the challenge would go ahead, Dalton said.

Under most sponsorship arrangements, the bulk of the money was received close to the event. But with pre-regattas in Europe starting this month and more scheduled for the next two years, the team needed a lot of money early on.

"This loan helps us to compete in these events, which we regard as important building blocks in our quest to regain the America's Cup.

"It serves to remove the financial pressure on the team early in the campaign and gives us time to negotiate with further potential sponsors. I emphasise it is a loan and the team has to pay it back."

Team New Zealand needs about $140 million to $160 million for a serious cup challenge.

Dalton is not revealing specific sponsorship amounts from Emirates or Team NZ's second-tier sponsor, Toyota New Zealand, but said both knew about the loan.

The loan was on top of the $60 million commercial sponsorship needed to confirm Government backing of nearly $34 million.

America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard could not be contacted for comment last night.

But it is clear the Government believes the return of the cup would be good for the New Zealand economy. Mr Mallard said last year that the 2000 and 2003 events had generated about $1 billion.

Ernesto Bertarelli could not be contacted last night.