Yachting: Swiss face forfeit of boat and patch

By Suzanne McFadden

Switzerland's America's Cup challengers are crowing about their new boat - but they have lost a designer and could forfeit their Auckland base and an old cup boat today for failing to pay their bills.

Fast 2000 must come up with $162,000 by 5pm today or they will be kicked out of the cup village.

Everything on the site, including the cup boat chartered from the French Esprit syndicate, will suddenly belong to the village company.

Yesterday the Swiss were given a sail number for their new boat - CH59 - which now consists of a deck and a laminated hull in a boatyard in Geneva. But at the same time, one of the boat's designers walked off the project because he had not been paid.

Naval architect Sebastien Schmidt said yesterday that he had not received a cent for six months.

America's Cup Village Ltd have been owed money since the Swiss began leasing a base in the Viaduct Basin around a year ago.

On Monday, they paid $50,000 of the $212,000 owing, and have until the end of the Auckland business day today to front up with the rest.

Village dock boss Grant Davidson said yesterday that ACVL had been more than generous with their deadline.

"This has been going on forever. We've had many talks with the Swiss syndicate and they've always promised to pay," he said.

"If they don't pay by 5 o'clock, we own everything on the base."

That includes the 1995-generation cup boat that Fast2000 chartered from France's Esprit du Sud syndicate for training in Auckland.

The French have said they plan to sail the boat in the challenger series in October.

But Davidson said the French had originally shared the base with the Swiss, so they also owe money.

There will be no problems filling the 65m x 16m space. Davidson said the neighbours, Nippon and AmericaOne, were looking for more room, and Syd Fischer's Young Australia were still interested in a base.

The Swiss cashflow problems have been public since early this year, when they abruptly left their training season in New Zealand.

Work on the boat's hull stopped in April when there was no money left, and a week later a writ was slapped on the yellow boat sitting on the village base.

Fast2000 came up with two sponsors, Movenpick and computer company CA, to help pay for the construction of their new yacht.

Hans Bernhard, the marketing manager for the syndicate, said in a press release that the boat was progressing well.

"Two shifts are working to finish the yacht on time, at the end of August," he said.

Schmidt, who had worked in the design team for two years, had opted to leave to pursue another project.

But Schmidt said that Fast2000 and syndicate boss Marc Pajot had not fulfilled his contract "to pay the architects simultaneously and proportionately for their services."

The boat design has now been handed to Dutchman Peter van Oossanen, who helped draw up Australia's victorious 1983 cup boat, and French cup designer Philippe Briand.