KEY POINTS:
Planted stories, rumours and misinformation are part of the America's Cup.
So far this cup has been free of skulduggery; however, a story this week which suggested Emirates Team New Zealand's NZL92 had suffered major structural damage could be the start of things to come.
The story insinuated that NZL92 had suffered major damage while sailing in Valencia last week.
Team New Zealand denied it, and NZL92 has been sailing since.
It would appear the story was planted by another syndicate trying to take Team New Zealand's eye off the ball. And it did. Some teams are experts in this area. In the past, Team New Zealand have been masters at it themselves.
A quick look back at Team New Zealand's history in the America's Cup shows some instances where they have been the victims and others where they have been the instigators.
1987
'I don't think you should have said that, Dennis.'
New Zealand introduced the world's first fibreglass 12m yacht. The Plastic Fantastic KZ7 won 37 of 38 matches before losing to Dennis Conner in the Louis Vuitton Cup final.
Not only did Conner and Malin Burnham (Stars & Stripes owner) try to trick their other opponents by sandbagging in the round robin races, they also set out to derail the New Zealand campaign.
"Seventy-eight 12-metres have all been built of aluminium. So if you wanted to build a glass boat then why would you do it? Unless you wanted to cheat," Conner said in a press conference.
Sitting next to him was the late Tom Blackaller, then skipper of the boat USA, who said, "I don't think you should have said that, Dennis."
Conner said, "I'll take it back."
Blackaller said, "It's too late."
Conner asked that core samples be taken from KZ7 to ensure the boat was within the rules. In other words he wanted the New Zealanders to drill holes in their boat.
As you can imagine, Sir Michael Fay told him where to get off.
Because the New Zealanders were having to defend the fibreglass boat, their boat development parked up. Conner's tactics worked a treat.
1988
'Why would I build a dog, when I can have a cat?'
This cup was the mismatch between Conner's catamaran and New Zealand's big boat, KZ1, which resulted in a messy court battle.
In the past, the New York Yacht Club, which had defended the cup for 132 years, always had a "hip pocket" challenge [the challenger of record] lined up, and together they'd decide and announce the boat, the location and the timing of the venue immediately.
But when Conner won it for San Diego Yacht Club, they failed to announce anything. It has been suggested that Conner was exploring other locations. He was keeping everyone guessing in order to give himself a head start in design.
In doing so he opened himself up to a surprise challenge by the New Zealanders. Because it was unexpected, the criteria of when and where and what the boats to be used were wasn't determined. As a result the New Zealand Challenge rocked up with KZ1.
Conner replied with an 18m catamaran.
"Why would I build a dog, when I can have a cat?" he asked.
In terms of misinformation, planted stories and spats, the 1988 cup would just about take the cake. The only good thing to come from it was the establishment of the America's Cup Class rule - the rules the current boats race under.
1992
A member of Il Moro told me they had the material to derail NZL20
Racing NZL20, Team New Zealand lost to Il Moro di Venezia in the Louis Vuitton Cup final after the Italians protested their use of the bowsprit.
In this cup I was doing some work for the Spanish team. I remember going to a party where a member of Il Moro told me that they had the necessary material to derail NZL20.
He didn't say what it was but said they would wait until the best time to use it, when it would have the biggest impact.
They weren't just telling me, they were telling anyone that would listen to get it out there.
The bowsprit issue was the catalyst for Team New Zealand falling apart, because they stopped focusing on the job ahead.
The person from Il Moro who told me that story is now working for one of Team New Zealand's rivals.
In that same cup, Bill Koch of America3 set up a spy station on Point Loma to watch the defenders and the challengers (there was more than one American team in those days, so a defenders series was held).
The spies came out with a report that said the challengers were 20 per cent faster than the defenders. Talk about misinformation.
America3 won the defenders series and went on to beat Il Moro 5-0.
1995
'We knew, you see, because we were the ones who started the rumour.'
Headed by Sir Peter Blake and skippered by Russell Coutts with Brad Butterworth as tactician, Team New Zealand trounced Dennis Conner to win the America's Cup 5-0.
Leading up to the cup, many had written off Team New Zealand after hearing a rumour that their two new boats NZL32 and NZL38 struggled against the team's old boat NZL20. The rumour mill suggested that NZL32 was constantly being beaten up by NZL20.
In Russell Coutts' book Course to Victory Coutts explains how the rumours came to life.
"Competitors and the press heard the two black boats Team New Zealand built couldn't even beat the old boat NZL20. Dogs they were called. Dennis Conner termed them the black labradors; the Aussies referred to them in even less complementary terms.
"All of this was music to our ears because these rumours had come full circle.
"We knew when and where they started. We knew, you see, because we were the ones who started the rumour.
"With three America's Cup challenges behind New Zealand, we knew the battle on shore is often as fierce as the war on the water. We had learned that misinformation is a key tool in deceiving the opposition.
"That day in the Loaded Hog when a member of the Team New Zealand afterguard pulled [the] chosen target aside and whispered that our designers had tried a radical approach that had failed miserably, was the beginning of the ground attack that was a planned strategy. Phase two was a call to one of our major paint suppliers whom we asked if he had enough black paint to cover NZL20 - the 1992 America's Cup warrior.
"The third call went out to one of our suppliers, whom we knew was a bit of a town crier. No more than two hours later the word had spread through Auckland."
The international media took the bait big time. It was beautifully orchestrated by Coutts, Butterworth and executive director Alan Sefton.
2003
'Hula - what is that? A dance around the rules?'
Team New Zealand were beaten 5-0 by the Coutts skippered Alinghi. Sporting a revolutionary hull appendage, Team New Zealand's race boat NZL82 suffered breakages in three of the five races, handing their opponents an easy victory.
Team New Zealand felt the full force of not one, but all the challengers during the last cup who questioned whether the hull appendage was legal. "Is it touching? How can you prove it is not touching? etc"
One of Oracle's designers, Bruce Farr, even went as far as to say: "Hula - what is that? A dance around the rules?"
The measurer came under pressure from the challengers. To make it comply, Team New Zealand had to make the gap between the hull and appendage wider and wider. As the gap increased it created more drag and the boat got slower.
This was orchestrated and manipulated by misinformation and planted stories.
Team New Zealand also had their marketing campaign - based around the word "loyal" - turned against them. Dave Dobbyn's Loyal was one of Sir Peter Blake's favourite songs, and many in the team were Dobbyn fans, which were key factors in why the song was chosen.
Dobbyn had been part of the victory celebrations in San Diego.
While I am sure they would have considered the word had other implications - given the ill feeling against the likes of Coutts and Co - they would not have envisaged the beating they got from the international media. Maybe in that respect they were a little bit naive.
But it wasn't just Team New Zealand who were under attack in the last cup. American syndicate OneWorld found themselves involved in a messy spat with New Zealander Sean Reeves, who alleged they had stolen Team New Zealand's design information, while some of the New Zealanders in Alinghi allegedly received hate mail and death threats.
I T makes for interesting times ahead. I am sure Team New Zealand will have learnt from their recent encounter with the rumour mill and will be better prepared for the next bomb that explodes. And there will be more.
Rumours and intrigue are all part of the America's Cup. We just keep have to keep it in context.
