Ex-Team NZ member sued in spy scandal

By EUGENE BINGHAM

A former Team New Zealand member has been implicated in the most controversial espionage scandal to hit the America's Cup in almost 10 years.

Lawyers for the Seattle-based One World syndicate are suing a former employee alleging he turned double agent and tried to sell $US2.5 million ($5.9 million) of yachting secrets to a rival syndicate.

Court documents claim the man, named only as "John Doe", approached the Chris Dickson-led Oracle Racing Team with design and crew information about One World - the syndicate many Team New Zealand members defected to last year.

One World spokesman Bob Ratliffe said yesterday that the former employee left in the Northern Hemisphere spring, but he refused to name him or say what his position was.

However, several sources told the Herald that John Doe was involved in New Zealand's successful defence of the cup last year.

Reviving images of some of the dirty tricks that litter the cup's history, papers filed in the King County Superior Court in Seattle claim the former employee's attempt to sell trade secrets to members of the Oracle team backfired when they dobbed him in.

The information, on paper, computer disks and in his memory, included technical information so secret that One World allowed only eight people to have access to it. One World said the information was unique and valued it at more than $US2.5 million.

John Doe's actions were halted in July when Oracle became concerned that the information was "improperly obtained" and alerted One World.

The San Francisco-based Oracle syndicate declined to comment yesterday, but Mr Ratliffe said One World admired the way Oracle had handled the affair.

"They have been very co-operative and we believe that they have been nothing but honourable in their communication with us," he said.

Of John Doe, Mr Ratliffe would only say: "It is both disturbing and disappointing behaviour, but we wouldn't make any further comment."

The court documents allege John Doe has acted in breach of confidentiality clauses he signed when he left the syndicate. One World sought a gagging order as well as an order for damages.

Cup insiders said the John Doe affair was the most controversial since 1992 when Bill Koch admitted he used a chase boat to spy on his opponents.

Stunts such as that led to a tightening of the rules, including one that prevents obtaining rivals' yacht designs through reconnaissance. Another stops syndicates sharing design information.

Within days of being contacted by Oracle, One World sent letters to all the challengers and Team New Zealand reminding them of those cup rules.

"We have clear and incontestable evidence that [technical information] has been offered to one of the challengers," the letter said. "The information is clearly the property of One World and any use or attempted use of the information ... would be a clear breach of [the rules]."

Team New Zealand declined to comment yesterday.

But the court case raises the issue of whether syndicates to which Team New Zealand members defected last year have used information gained during their time around the black boats, which could be in breach of the rules.