Top-to-bottom secrets of the cup

By JULIE ASH

"Your secret is safe with me."

When America's Cup measurer Ken McAlpine says those words he really means it.

McAlpine is the chairman of the Measurement Committee and technical director of the America's Cup class, which means it's his job to ensure the challengers and the defenders comply with the rules.

"The America's Cup is a very complicated and expensive game and the participants are playing with very high stakes. They want to ensure the game is being played on a level playing field," McAlpine says.

The Measurement Committee has four members - McAlpine and fellow Australian Shaun Ritson, American Nick Nicholson and Briton James Dadd.

"We measure the sails, hulls, booms, spinnaker poles - you name it. If it gets measured, we do it.

"Most of it is measurement but we also deal with other aspects such as issuing interpretations of the class rules, and ensuring compliance of the communication system on the boats to make sure the crew are not able to receive outside assistance when racing.

"We are also involved with compliance with the America's Cup protocol by approving alterations to the hulls of the yachts."

The committee issues syndicates with their sail numbers as soon as construction of the hull begins. In the month before the challenger series all the yachts are measured.

"All of the boats have been partially measured in the country where they were built. During September all this preliminary measurement work was checked and finally a certificate was issued for each yacht so they were able to compete."

Every time a team make a change, the committee remeasures and, just to be sure no one has made secret changes, the committee also does random testing.

"We board the boat at the finish line to check that all the equipment is measured and that the overall allowable yacht weight of 26 tonnes and total crew weight of 1450kg is not exceeded."

While the measurers are administratively responsible to the challengers and the defender and have contracts with AC2003 and CORM (Challenger of Record Management) on technical matters, they answer to no one.

"If there is a technical dispute then the measurers resolve it and their decision is final."

McAlpine says the measurements from past cups are kept confidential and are encrypted on a computer and CDs.

So how does it feel to be one of just a handful of people to have seen all the boats in their entirety?

"We would like to think we have seen everything," he laughs.

"We have seen under the skirts - all that sort of stuff.

"We get very good at diverting questions. Often when people find out what we do the first question is who will win and secondly what secrets I can reveal.

"The first is answered with, 'I don't have a clue' and the second is met with a smile and silence.

"There are only four people in the world that have seen all the boats and we will guard those secrets very closely.

"To my knowledge there has never been a leak out of the Measurement Committee yet and I would be very, very upset if there ever was one."

A naval architect by profession, McAlpine, who describes himself as a keen weekend sailor, worked for a naval architect who was a measurer in Australia in the early 1970s and it was through him that his involvement in the cup began.

"He measured each of the Australian yachts before they went to Newport to compete in the America's Cup over a period of 10 years.

"I left his business and 12 months later he died.

"The people involved in Australia II in 1983 rang me and asked if I could measure their boat before it went to the America's Cup."

Australia II, sporting the revolutionary winged keel, won the cup and McAlpine was asked if he would work as a measurer in the 1987 regatta in Perth. He agreed and has been involved in the cup ever since.

"You get to meet people from all over the world but one of the most enjoyable aspects is the intellectual challenge of working with very clever people who are trying to extract the very last 0.1 of a knot from their boats by exploiting every avenue open to them in the class rule.

"You see things no one has seen before."

McAlpine, who was involved in the development of the America's Cup Class Rule in 1989, says there is plenty of discussion over its future.

The rule, which essentially covers the design specification to be met by all cup boats, came in after the controversial big boat challenge from Sir Michael Fay - which was met by the catamaran of Dennis Conner in 1987-88 - which made a mockery of the competition.

"There will come a time when the rule is fully exploited and the costs to find small increases in performance become prohibitive.

"I would like to see some changes in the rule to open up the design space a little but hope the concept of the class will remain, as these are very special racing yachts."

After six cups McAlpine is still as keen as ever.

"I guess I am a bit like everyone else - once you start you can't stop because it is very enthralling and is such a difficult game."