Yachtsmen urge caution before commitment

By HELEN TUNNAH

Leading yachtsmen are urging caution before the Government pumps any taxpayer money into Team New Zealand for a fresh America's Cup challenge.

With America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard due to announce today what support there will be for Team New Zealand, both Chris Dickson and Peter Lester have called for a thorough review of the team's dismal cup showing before any public money is committed.

Dickson, who has skippered New Zealand and overseas challenges, said it should be remembered that Team New Zealand were a business, not a national side.

"They're not the All Blacks. It's not a nationally representative team; it's not a nationally selected team. It's a private company.

"Team New Zealand had the money and they had the time, they had the best starting point and they obviously got it very, very wrong," said Dickson.

"If the major objective was to win then it was as disappointing as it could be."

He said that as a taxpayer and a yachtsman he would like to be sure that if the Government was going to pick one team to support, it picked the correct one.

"After the last results you'd have to be asking firstly, whether the Government should be backing an America's Cup team at all.

"Secondly, if they're going to back one horse, then is it the right one?

"Thirdly, if it's public money that's going to make it happen then perhaps the public should have some say in it."

Lester, Yachting New Zealand's high-performance manager, said the Government would need to be careful before committing any money to one particular syndicate.

Before any action was taken, a complete and independent review of Team New Zealand's poor showing against Alinghi had to be conducted, he said.

"Why hire people or continue a theme if it didn't work."

The Swiss team will fly out of Auckland with the America's Cup tomorrow after completing a 5-0 rout of Team New Zealand last weekend.

The whitewash was aided by Alinghi billionaire boss Ernesto Bertarelli's chequebook raid on Team New Zealand three years ago, when he hired Russell Coutts and several of his team-mates.

The Government stepped in with $5.6 million to help keep the team together.

Team New Zealand spent $85 million on its defence, and is expected to need at least 50 per cent more than that to be competitive in Europe.

But there is increasing scepticism that the team will be immediate targets for foreign campaigns.

Overseas syndicates such as Prada and OneWorld Challenge are considered unlikely to mount new challenges, releasing sailors such as New Zealander Gavin Brady and Australians James Spithill and Peter Gilmour onto the marketplace.

Dickson will also become a free agent at the end of this month when his contract with Oracle BMW Racing ends.

Both he and Lester were key players in Dickson's 1995 team, Tag Heuer, which competed against Team New Zealand when they first won the America's Cup.

"I can talk from the benefit of having organised, backed and owned an America's Cup challenge from New Zealand," Dickson said.

"I was not the recipient of any Government assistance in any way or form because Team New Zealand got the whole lot."

He said if the syndicate was winning it might make sense to simply back one team, but a review of why Team New Zealand failed had to be undertaken.

Dickson said he would love to be involved in another New Zealand challenge, but it was too soon to say if he would be.

"I don't have $100 million to warrant talking about it myself."

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/americascup