By JULIE ASH
A sophisticated radar system has created the latest spying stir in the America's Cup.
OneWorld wants to use a scrambling beam to "cloak" their boat from a secret high-tech device on Oracle.
The arch-rival syndicates of billionaires Larry Ellison and Craig McCaw are racing each other on the
Hauraki Gulf, but McCaw's OneWorld team are worried Ellison's crew might be seeing too much.
They think Oracle's radar system may have been developed using military know-how.
Skipper Chris Dickson said last night that the boat had a number of pieces of equipment, "and we don't discuss what they do".
"We are fully aware of the rules and we are clear we are 100 per cent within them."
Oracle have only to win their race against OneWorld Challenge today to eliminate them and qualify for next month's Louis Vuitton Cup finals against Alinghi of Switzerland.
Two other teams have joined OneWorld in asking the international jury to check whether Oracle's radar system is within the rules. The jury was meeting last night.
Alinghi could not be contacted last night, but Team New Zealand said they had not made inquiries to the jury.
The radar, nicknamed "the goose" by Oracle crew, has attracted rival crews' curiosity for some time. Now, OneWorld is asking the jury if the equipment is legal, and, if so, can they try to block it.
"We are just seeking clarification," said OneWorld executive director Bob Ratliffe.
"We want to know if it tracks our boat and our boat speed and whether we can block our boat."
OneWorld chief executive Gary Wright said his team had the technology to disrupt the signal and ensure their boat "disappeared" from radar. "We can either do that with equipment on the race boat or by beaming a blocking signal from our chase boat," Wright said.
It was important to establish whether it could be used to collect data from banned sources, he said.
The jury also would be asked to determine whether the radar was linked to systems on Oracle's weather or support boats.
America's Cup yachts can receive data from their weather boats until 10 minutes before the start of any race.
Chief umpire and international jury chairman jury Bryan Willis said all the yachts had basic radar equipment which told where and how far away their opposition were.
"This asks if something more sophisticated is permitted," he said.
Oracle BMW has taken the game a technological step further than the white radar on the stern of their boat, by testing "heads-up display units".
The BMW units are a wireless connection to instruments.
Crew get readouts using their sunglasses and a pull-down screen.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By JULIE ASH
A sophisticated radar system has created the latest spying stir in the America's Cup.
OneWorld wants to use a scrambling beam to "cloak" their boat from a secret high-tech device on Oracle.
The arch-rival syndicates of billionaires Larry Ellison and Craig McCaw are racing each other on the
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