Magnet for the rich and famous

By Suzanne McFadden

"Alcohol and delusions of grandeur" — the simple reasons why Sir Frank Packer entered Australia into the race for the Auld Mug back in the 1950s. Since the beginning, the America's Cup has magnetised the rich and famous, the shrewd and the cunning.

Names like Vanderbilt, Lipton, Sopwith, Packer, Turner, Conner, Bond, Gardini and Fay. So who will be the larger-than-life personalities in 2000? Bertelli, Cayard, Kolius, Coutts and Butterworth...and Conner again.

Patrizio Bertelli is known by his Italian crew as Mr Bertelli. For the first year, most of the sailors did not know what his first name was. Just "Mister". He is also Mr Prada, of the Prada fashion house. But he is not here to sell a pair of pumps or a little black dress.

The animated Tuscan loves sailing, and has the credentials to run a yachting campaign. Says Laurent Esquier, the Prada syndicate's operations manager: "He understands mast and sail, and as a businessman, he knows efficiency and focus.

He's a driven man, who loves boats." He has raced big boats — in June he won the world 12m championships, on the old KZ7, chartered from Sir Michael Fay. He began his career making shoes in Tuscany, before marrying Miuccia Prada. Today they reap net sales of over $1 billion a year. Bertelli is described by those who work for him as a passionate man — who shouts when he has to but treats the crew like his sons.

Paul Cayard is the epitome of today's professional skipper. He's suave, media savvy and a skilled sailor. He speaks three languages and has a degree in business management. And when there's a bit of controversy — and in the America's Cup, that's often — many point the finger at Cayard for stirring it up.

In his cup career, Cayard has always worked for cup celebrities — the late Raul Gardini in 1992 and Dennis Conner in `95. This time he's out on his own with AmericaOne — skipper, helmsman, fundraiser and syndicate head.

Cayard's coach in `92 was John Kolius — now a rival and another contender for Cup Personality 2000. Kolius is a sharp-witted, no-nonsense Texan. When he's running hot, he's a hard man to beat. He skippered America II for New York in 1987, and copped the blame for their failure, even though the boat was just too slow. Those who have sailed with him say Kolius is an emotional guy, and he can be a one-man-band.

You couldn't have an America's Cup regatta to herald the new millennium without the King of the Cup himself. Questions have arisen over whether Conner is as driven as he was in his previous seven campaigns. He's built just one boat and he's happy to show her naked to the world.

But never underestimate the man, who Walter Kronkite once described as "hyper-ambitious, hyper-dedicated." "The pursuit of the America's Cup never will be the same as it was B.C. (Before Conner)", Kronkite said in the foreword of one of Conner's many books.

Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth are best mates and partners in defence. The skipper and tactician are also practical jokers and golfing buddies. The sailing brains behind Team New Zealand, Coutts and Butterworth are not always serious — they're also known to play tricks on fellow crew, like hiding grinder Andrew Taylor's motorbike.

Coutts' motto in life is to have fun — be it on the water, on the golf course, or at a press conference. But there is no question of either sailor's determination to hold on to the Auld Mug.

Coutts and Butterworth will join forces with Tom Schnackenberg to run the next America's Cup if Team New Zealand are successful in their defence.

In the challenger series, look out for the youngest skipper, 20-year-old James Spithill, his boss 72-year-old Syd Fischer and the first-ever female syndicate head Dawn Riley to also attract the flashbulbs.