Twenty-six jumped ship from Team New Zealand

By HELEN TUNNAH and CATHERINE MASTERS

At least 26 New Zealanders have quit Team New Zealand and gone to work for other cup syndicates.

But Team New Zealand also have foreigners - at least seven - on their books.

Spokesman Murray Taylor was hesitant to talk about whether it mattered if teams representing countries were represented by non-nationals.

Team New Zealand were "very happy" the vast majority of their sailors were New Zealanders but the yachties from other countries made a valuable contribution.

Just over two years ago New Zealand was devastated when it woke up to the news that former skipper Russell Coutts and tactician Brad Butterworth had joined pharmaceuticals billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli and his Swiss syndicate Alinghi.

Many denounced them as deserters and traitors, but many others from Team New Zealand followed in their footsteps and went to opposition syndicates.

Long-time yachting journalist Ivor Wilkins says Team New Zealand have only a few foreign nationals but some of the other syndicates have a few too many.

The trend flew in the face of what the cup was all about, he said.

America's Cup history clearly showed it was about friendly competition between foreign nations.

"That's how it was begun and I think the whole nature of the cup depends on that."

The American OneWorld syndicate have seven national flags flying at their base, including the New Zealand flag.

They have 12 Team New Zealand defectors on the books, and did have Sean Reeves but are now taking legal action against him for allegedly selling secrets. Reeves has made counter allegations against OneWorld.

OneWorld spokesman Bob Ratliffe said if the syndicate had even more countries representing it "that would be great".

The syndicate's broader mission was to promote "global environmental stewardship and global citizenship", he said.

Alinghi are a true international team with 15 nationalities if the cooks are included, says Alinghi spokesman Bernard Schopfer .

"We think it's great to mix all these different cultures and it makes it very rich in a cultural sense."

But they were still a Swiss team, he said, and if Alinghi won it would be a win for Switzerland.

The Defectors

Those who have quit Team New Zealand and their new syndicates are:

Alinghi: Brad Butterworth, Russell Coutts, Simon Daubney, Murray Jones, Warwick Fleury, Dean Phipps, Andrew Witherspoon.

OneWorld: Laurie Davidson, Richard Dodson, Richard Karn, Matthew Mason, Ian Mitchell, Craig Monk, Jeremy Scantlebury, Kevin Shoebridge, Wayne Smith, Andrew Taylor, Peter Waymouth, Neil Wilkinson. (Sean Reeves has now left.)

Oracle: Mickey Ickert, Philip Jameson, Chay McIntosh, Robbie Naismith, Bob Rice, Mark Turner.

Foreign nationals on Team New Zealand:

Adam Beashal, Roger Badham and Ben Fletcher (Australia); Clay Oliver (US-born); Betrand Pace (France); Andy Claughton (Great Britain); Christopher Miller (US).

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