Brian Rudman: Let nasty BlackHeart vanish once and for all

Only an adman would try it on. The retreating blackguards at BlackHeart, headed by David Walden, now want us to feel sorry for them. Their holy war against the "traitors" Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth et al having backfired on them, they're trying to persuade us it was really all just a bit of light-hearted joshing.

Mr Walden is arguing 90 to the dozen that the threatening letters to Alinghi crew, signed by Teach the Traitors a Lesson, had nothing to do with BlackHeart. But, he moans, "mud sticks", their pro-Team New Zealand campaign has been "hijacked" and as a result they are retiring hurt for a while.

The pity is that he and his motley band are threatening to return at some later stage. They'd be doing all of us - Team New Zealand, especially - a great favour if they disappeared forever back down the black hole from where they came.

What a nasty, distasteful episode it's been.

I'm sure, as "Lunchalot" Walden claims, that he and his mates didn't write the threatening letters. Just as Winston Peters didn't let off the pipe-bombs or scrawl the racist messages outside the "ethnic" shop that was attacked in Taupo the other day.

But having stirred the pot, manufactured the ammunition and carefully wrapped it in a patriotic flag, it is disingenuous of them now to claim squeaky-clean hands.

A quick trawl of their website is enough to reveal what passes for light-hearted banter at BlackHeart headquarters. The intention, remember, is "to have fun" and to "be cheeky".

The dark tirades from the captain's log suggest that at BlackHeart, humour is of the pulling-wings-off-flies variety.

"Mercenaries in the Roman Army would eat and sleep apart from the other soldiers," writes the captain, adding: "They were spat on when they came to collect their pay."

And: "So stop whining you defectors, being so precious about criticism ... "

And: " ... bugger any defectors that our anger makes uncomfortable. They're trying to shaft this country. Let them contemplate the hatred of a nation 20 years from now, however slow be that nation to the anger of full realisation."

And: "We will undermine the motivation of the defectors and make them question whether they really want to increase the hatred of a nation further."

Team New Zealand is, we are told, "carrying the spiritual wealth of a whole nation and armed with the sword of righteousness".

Talk about axis-of-evil speak. George W. Bush couldn't have put it more wittily. Nor Slobodan Milosevic. The only difference is that we're supposed to be discussing a yacht race here, not inciting a nation to war or genocide.

I'm glad, and a little relieved, that BlackHeart's hate campaign failed to strike a chord with New Zealanders - except in the case of a few extremists. Traitor is such an easy slur to fling, and jingoism too often an easy pot to get bubbling. But not this time. Sensibly, most New Zealanders don't see America's Cup politics in those terms.

The history of New Zealand's part in the America's Cup saga is yet to be written, but we know enough to suspect the departure of some of the key figures in the last defence was not just about getting better offers from European and American teams. Disgruntlement with the Peter Blake style of management is rumoured to have reached meltdown temperatures within the team.

But even if personal relations had not reached the dysfunctional stage, the proposition that Team New Zealand was somehow the embodiment of our national being, and that to jump ship was treachery, is a ludicrous proposition.

Like most New Zealanders, I was somewhat stunned when the victors of 2000 split asunder. But disloyal? Hardly. They'd already delivered the goods to a grateful nation and then, like many of our best and brightest, decided to test their skills and talents - and seek their fortunes - overseas.

The result three years on is a rejuvenated Team New Zealand on which our hopes now rest. And they're none the poorer for the shake-up, either. Let's not forget they have foreign content also, including an American designer, a French sailor and a major German sponsor whose logo has exclusive rights on the yacht's spinnaker.

As for the other teams, instead of bagging them we should be proud that so many of them, having scoured the world for the best crews and designers, have homed in on New Zealanders.

To think that a country with a population the size of a smallish European or American city can throw up skippers for the two Louis Vuitton Cup finalists as well as for Team New Zealand. That's what Mr Walden and his cronies should be proud about. They should also relax a bit and enjoy the spectacle.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

Racing schedule, results and standings