Team NZ gets a bargain guarantee

By KARYN SCHERER

The Warehouse founder, Stephen Tindall, has agreed to underwrite Team New Zealand's next defence of the America's Cup in a move which organisers say has given a "tremendous boost" to their planning.

Mr Tindall, one of the country's wealthiest individuals, with a fortune estimated at half a billion dollars, is believed to have given the guarantee the day sailors Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth announced they were defecting.

He had already helped bankroll a documentary about Sir Peter Blake when he received the call, and is understood to be one of several prominent business people who have agreed to support the team.

While he has not yet had to put up any money, the guarantee allows Team NZ to secure crucial bridging finance.

A director of the trustee company behind the defence, Peter Menzies, confirmed yesterday that Mr Tindall's support had come at a critical time for the team.

"It was immensely important to enable us to get the whole of the Team New Zealand organisation moving ahead, recruiting sailors and making commitments.

"We were quite flat-footed."

Asked what would happen if Team NZ was unable to secure enough sponsorship to pay for the next defence, Mr Menzies said he did not "even want to think about that."

Team NZ is believed to be seeking around $75 million for the next defence - a 50 per cent increase on its previous budget.

Mr Menzies declined to confirm the figure, but said it was significantly more than last time so it could offer its sailors more competitive pay. "We're paying more, but it's still below the offers from other syndicates, so those staying are still making a big commitment to stay in New Zealand."

Mr Tindall agreed to talk about his involvement with Team NZ in an exclusive interview to promote a Business Herald project championing the country's innovators.

He revealed he was using the profits he had made from his retail empire to support at least 30 innovative projects, which he hopes will eventually provide thousands of jobs and other economic benefits.

Many of the projects have been supported by the Tindall Foundation, a charitable trust he and his wife, Margaret, set up six years ago, while others have received funding from his private investment company, Tindall Family Holdings.

One of the projects is with never-go-flat battery inventor Peter Witehira, whose latest invention is an instant-ordering device that Mr Tindall believes could be an enormous success internationally.

However, he described the deal with Team NZ as "probably the biggest brute of the lot."]

Tindall the capitalist saint has plans to save us all


America's Cup feature