By MICHAEL DALY
The America's Cup campaign is a billion-dollar event that has proved irresistible to some of the great tycoons of the new economy, including four billionaires.
So as skippers with big sailing reputations race in head-to-head contests on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf, some huge boardroom egos will
also be feeling the heat.
All racing in the next four months will be between the nine teams wanting to win the right to challenge Team New Zealand for the cup.
The winner, to come from three United States syndicates, two Italian, and one each from Britain, France, Switzerland and Sweden, will face the holders from February 15.
Competing for the Louis Vuitton Cup, the nine challengers will race in two round-robin seriesthis month. Four races on two separate courses, starting in a 15-minute envelope no earlier than 12.15pm, will be held on each day of competition. All races will be shown live on TV One.
At the end of the two round robins, the team placed last will drop out of the competition, while the others are divided into top four and bottom four groups.
The arrangement of races that follow appear to favour the contenders from the top four, but the way is still open for strongly improving challengers from the bottom group to force their way back into contention.
Quarter-finals are due to start on November 12, semifinals on December 9 and the finals on January 11.
Although estimates of the challengers' budgets vary, most efforts seem to have come up with a range from close to $200 million for the most lavishly bankrolled syndicates, down to perhaps $50 million at the lower end.
But sheer financial firepower may not be the key to winning the Louis Vuitton. Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes syndicate, for example, is reported by Forbes to be operating on a "tight budget" of around $85 million, although the team is not saying.
Yet it would seem foolish to discount the chances of the wily veteran Conner and his all-American crew, representing for many the spiritual home of the America's Cup, the New York Yacht Club.
For many New Zealanders, the clear frontrunner among the challengers is the Swiss Alinghi syndicate. That sentiment rests heavily on the presence of skipper Russell Coutts, who led New Zealand to victory in 2000.
Other big factors are the backing of Swiss biotechnology businessman Ernesto Bertarelli, whose family has a net worth of around $19 billion and a campaign budget estimated at up to $150 million.
Still, it may be worth bearing in mind that Alinghi represents a land-locked country, where the largest water body, Lake Geneva, measures just 582sq km.
For parochial pundits on the west coast of the United States, the Louis Vuitton series is being pitched as a Seattle versus Silicon Valley confrontation, with allowance being made for a possible strong showing by the Italian fashion business-backed Prada bid.
In Seattle and San Francisco it's the battle of the billionaires that has grabbed people's interest.
On the Seattle side is OneWorld, bankrolled to the tune of around an estimated $200 million by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Craig McCaw, who made much of his money in telecommunications.
Their syndicate goes into the series with several former Team New Zealand crew members, including former Team New Zealand designer Laurie Davidson.
OneWorld's stated mission is to win the America's Cup in the name of the health of the planet.
Coming from the Bay Area, probably with a similar budget to OneWorld, is the Oracle BMW Racing syndicate led by Larry Ellison, longtime Microsoft foe and the founder of another of the world's leading software development companies, Oracle.
According to Forbes, Allen is worth $21 billion, Ellison $15.2 billion, and McCaw a comparatively paltry $2.3 billion. Hard times in US high technology industries in the past year or two has been challenging to all three, which could make winning in Auckland even more important to them.
With the finance and technical know-how behind them, the two US West Coast contenders may have a better chance of a design edge than many of the other syndicates.
Oracle would also presumably be benefiting from its connection to the BMW automotive group, which said high-performance sailing was now a third pillar of its sporting commitment, along with Formula One racing and golf.
Prada is another of the big budget competitors.
Led by the fashion company's chief executive Patrizio Bertelli, they are the Challenger of Record, and take with them into the series all the experience gained in the 5-0 loss to Team New Zealand in the 2000 America's Cup.
Expectations seem to be lower for four less wealthy challengers, Victory from Sweden, Mascalzone Latino from Italy, France's Le Defi Areva, and the British GBR Challenge.
The whole wild ride that is the America's Cup started off southern England more than 150 years ago, but the British lost then to an innovative US schooner called America, and have not been able to win since.
Back in the competition for the first time in 16 years, the British syndicate is headed by Peter Harrison, who is thought to have made hundreds of millions in data networking.
- NZPA
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By MICHAEL DALY
The America's Cup campaign is a billion-dollar event that has proved irresistible to some of the great tycoons of the new economy, including four billionaires.
So as skippers with big sailing reputations race in head-to-head contests on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf, some huge boardroom egos will
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