By JULIE ASH and PATRICK GOWER
Police will investigate thousands of members of the BlackHeart campaign against America's Cup defectors after threats of violence against the children of Alinghi sailors.
Members of the Swiss syndicate have been sent two letters in the past month from a group understood to call itself
TTTAL - Teach The Traitors A Lesson.
The letters threaten violence to Alinghi members' families, and to damage their property and the syndicate base.
The group says it has tracked the movements of children and other family members and gave personal details about one crew member. The letters identified team members with young children.
Auckland police communications manager for the America's Cup Jeoff Barraclough said the threatening letters were being treated very seriously.
"There is a difference between nasty letters and threatening letters. Everybody gets nasty letters, but these ones are definitely threatening."
Police are not revealing which Alinghi members received the letters or exactly what was threatened. They also refused to confirm the name of the group which signed the letters, saying they believed it was a "group of patriotic activists".
Scrutiny shifted to the BlackHeart campaign after it was noted that some phrases in the letters resembled quotes from the group's email newsletters.
BlackHeart has openly criticised those who left Team New Zealand after the last cup - particularly Alinghi's Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth.
Detectives have been given access to the member database of about 3000 people who support the campaign.
BlackHeart spokesman David Walden yesterday distanced the group from the threatening letters.
"We are not a dastardly organisation," he said. "We aren't a bunch of nutters. We are the yachting version of the [English cricket supporters] Barmy Army."
By yesterday afternoon BlackHeart had changed its website homepage to read: "BlackHeart states categorically that it neither has sent nor will send any threatening letters to the members of rival syndicates or their families, and is fully co-operating with the police in their efforts to find the people who did ... "
Mr Walden denied that BlackHeart had created an atmosphere where threats could be made to the families of rival syndicates.
"I don't think you can blame a group of patriotic New Zealanders for creating a climate where nutters decide to do something like this. The climate was created when they left Team New Zealand."
Alinghi executive director Michel Bonnefous disagreed.
"All this communication about team members, about the team, perhaps has led to some people believing it is acceptable to threaten the team.
"We have had enough of the things that have been said and this group which have been targeting the team."
He said the letters were very precise.
"They recall movements of people and the tone in which they are written has led us to believe it could be serious.
"We are very surprised and extremely shocked by this. We have always been well received in New Zealand. It is just sailing after all."
The US$55 million Alinghi campaign is backed by pharmaceutical billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli and includes former Team New Zealand members Coutts, Butterworth, Simon Daubney, Dean Phipps, Murray Jones and Warwick Fleury.
On the day Alinghi received the first letter, Coutts had taken part in a press conference, televised the same day, where he invoked the spirit of Sir Peter Blake to accuse Team New Zealand of not playing the America's Cup game the traditional way.
The remarks followed Team New Zealand's use of the rulebook in an attempt to stop the challengers bringing out their second boats after the semifinals.
Next Saturday Alinghi lines up against Oracle to decide which syndicate will challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup.
There has been speculation that if Alinghi goes on to win the cup, helicopters will take key members directly from the boat to the airport, where they will depart immediately for Switzerland.
"It is a sport and should be a celebration. For sure if these threats continue we will not be motivated to stay very long," said Mr Bonnefous. "But we don't believe the New Zealand population is like this, it is just a minority."
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By JULIE ASH and PATRICK GOWER
Police will investigate thousands of members of the BlackHeart campaign against America's Cup defectors after threats of violence against the children of Alinghi sailors.
Members of the Swiss syndicate have been sent two letters in the past month from a group understood to call itself
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.