Yachting: Syndicates crush conspiracy rumours

By LARRY EDWARDS

The America's Cup is always rife with rumours.

Perhaps the event's most fantastic tall tale ever - of race fixing and crews betting - is now making the rounds.

The latest allegation has it that America True, AmericaOne and Team Dennis Conner conspired to keep Young America out of the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup by allowing the French team to win races they were likely to lose.

But wait, there's more. According to this unattributed scandalmongering, members of these teams - in particular America True and AmericaOne - placed bets, at favourable odds, on the French boat when it raced AmericaOne, knowing the race was fixed.

At first the rumours were shrugged off, even laughed at by some representatives of the accused teams. Now that they have persisted for more than a week, America's Cup Challenge Association president Dyer Jones has had enough.

"I've sent a letter to all 11 challengers saying I'm sick and tired of the rumours," Jones said.

"They don't serve the event well. They bring into question the integrity of the event and some of the challengers. If a challenger has something to say, say it or shut up."

AmericaOne spokeperson Gina von Esmarch was well aware of the accusations that skipper Paul Cayard and crew dumped the race against the French boat Sixieme Sens.

"[But] we hadn't heard that we jointly conspired against Young America," she said.

This scenario is so convoluted that it would be laughable if it did not also involve accusations of crew members benefiting by betting on the race. It is no longer a laughing matter to any of the parties involved.

Jones is angry that it has become a cruel hoax that could taint the sport and the reputations of its participants.

"Quite frankly, if people are being tarred with a brush, it must stop," he said.

At least one e-mail message appeared to come from inside the Young America camp.

"We have no knowledge to support such a theory or to substantiate it," said John Marshall, the Young America chief executive. "We had no knowledge of any correspondence, nor does it reflect our team's position on the matter."

One of the rumoured accusations was that America True crew members placed bets on the French boat at seven-to-one odds, knowing it would win, and made a good deal of money in the process.

"The whole America True team is very upset," said Grace Kim, America True spokeswoman. "We take offence at the scandalous rumours. They are baseless.

"There was no agreement with any other teams and we have a formal team policy that betting is prohibited."

AmericaOne has a strict policy against betting as well.

The New Zealand TAB does not give the rumour any credence. The organisation had heard about it and has analysed the betting, but found nothing to substantiate the anonymous accusations, according to TAB sports betting manager Neil Sorensen.

"We saw nothing to be concerned about," he said.

Sorensen explained that while it was not illegal under New Zealand law for someone to bet on their own team, the TAB had contracts with most sports prohibiting team members from placing bets.

But there is no such agreement with the America's Cup Challenger Association because they have opposed betting on the Cup. A total of around $8000 was placed on the race, which Sorensen said was not unusual.

"There was about the same betting on both teams," he said. "The largest bet was $100."