City of Sails changes Cup cash tack

By BRIAN RUDMAN

While Team New Zealand yachties squabble with one another over the spoils of victory, Auckland local body leaders are weighing up the cost of hosting future America's Cup regattas.

They are also trying to find a way to lock the Government into paying at least part of the running costs of challenges.

Leading the charge is Auckland Mayor Christine Fletcher, who says city ratepayers have already spent enough by putting $120 million - which could have gone on improving public transport and drainage - into building the America's Cup village.

"That money is spent," she said, "but whether you can justify ongoing expenditure for a facility that has national significance, that is the question."

Mrs Fletcher's opposition to spending more Auckland money on yacht races seems to have wide support across the region.

On Friday week, the region's mayors will receive a paper from the local body chief executives' forum outlining options that can be taken over the village.

The CEOs' paper is expected to enthuse about the great success of the just-completed Cup series before turning to ways of preserving the village and making it financially practical for future events.

Speed in reaching a regional consensus that can then be taken to the Government is important as the existing village structure is programmed to unravel on June 30.

The artificial island goes back to Auckland City and the management agreement with America's Cup Village Ltd (ACVL) to manage various spaces comes to an end. The resource consents ACVL has for the bases and water space also start expiring.

It is understood that Government agreement to contribute to the running of future Cup regattas is integral to any of the options.

Also explored is the possibility of setting up a single Government agency to handle the bureaucratic problems faced by Cup syndicates and visitors.

Meanwhile, the omens have improved for those keen to keep the old log farm at the southwest end of Viaduct Harbour as part of the village.

It is owned by Viaduct Harbour Holdings Ltd and housed four syndicate bases, including Team Dennis Conner and America True. In recent weeks, Viaduct Holdings has been muttering about being able to make more money from other uses.

But the developers now seem happy to keep the land available for syndicate bases.

No Viaduct Holding spokesman could be reached yesterday, but ACVL chairman Peter Kiely said: "I'm confident a resolution will be reached in the near future."

Obtaining taxpayers' cash to help pay for future regattas could be more difficult. The cap-in-hand queue at the Beehive door grows by the hour, the health service rubbing shoulders with orchestras, Te Papa and every other cash-starved good and not-so-good cause.

One thing that can't be denied is that Aucklanders need outside help when it comes to running a yacht race base at a profit.

The just-completed America's Cup was the worst example, income falling short of expenditure by about $9 million. But in an almost carbon-copy case in 1994, the august Auckland Chamber of Commerce took on management of that year's Whitbread round-the-world yacht race stopover. Somehow our captains of industry ended up nearly $1 million in debt.

Whatever else these two examples prove, one thing seems certain: making money from managing bigtime yachting events is a high-risk business.

As a ratepayer, I'm glad Auckland local authorities seem to be backing away from giving more money to such events. As a taxpayer, I'm not so sure I'm happy that they're trying to burden me with it instead.

* Something quite different. Correspondent Malcolm McKenzie took me to task for claiming the One Tree Hill obelisk was unveiled in 1948. He recalled climbing to the top of the obelisk scaffolding about 1934 as a teenager and said it must have been unveiled about then.

Ah, memory. Our files show the decision to erect the obelisk was reported on December 18, 1934. The planned unveiling was postponed because of the Second World War and finally took place in April 1948.