We'll modernise Auld Mug, say Alinghi

By HELEN TUNNAH

Alinghi will today unveil plans to "modernise" the America's Cup as Team NZ continues to count the cost of mounting a challenge in Europe.

Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday confirmed taxpayers' money may again be spent supporting the yachting team to prevent key staff being poached by big-budget syndicates.

Team New Zealand lost the cup to Alinghi on Sunday and their $85 million budget for this campaign must be substantially increased if they want to win it back from the Swiss.

Alinghi's billionaire boss, Ernesto Bertarelli, has joined forces with the syndicate of another of the world's richest men, software tycoon Larry Ellison of Oracle BMW Racing, to draw up the protocol for the next event.

Together the two spent an estimated $US150 million on their campaigns for this America's Cup, mainly from their own pockets but with the help of other sponsors.

TV and marketing rights are expected to be brought under one umbrella, rather than different deals being negotiated for the challengers' regatta and the America's Cup. Any profits will be split between all syndicates.

Teams may also be able to sell design information, banned until now, while nationality rules will be relaxed to allow a person to simply state which campaign he or she is joining rather than live in a particular country.

Alinghi may also explore charging the host port a fee for staging the regatta.

Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts has already said there may be one or two design rule changes for the boats used and that the length of the regatta will be shortened.

The entry fee for challengers is expected to be increased, and could reach $US2 million.

The chairman of the Team New Zealand Trust, Ralph Norris, has said the syndicate want to stay together and challenge again. He said they would act swiftly to stop their sailors and designers being poached, and said some interim arrangements were in place for contracts to be offered before current deals expire at the end of the month.

Helen Clark said yesterday that the Government, through America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard, would explore funding options with Team New Zealand.

Talks had already been held, but any taxpayers' contribution was expected to be relatively small. The Government stepped in with public money three years ago when Coutts and other former Team New Zealand crew announced they were off to foreign syndicates.

"What we learned from last time was that if there's not some reasonably quick decisions about securing the team, predation can occur, which is pretty devastating to your effort," Helen Clark said yesterday.

But she made it clear Team NZ would need to secure their future through private sponsorship. "Team New Zealand needs to reach an understanding with a variety of their backers to see if it's going to be a goer."

- Additional reporting: Fran O'Sullivan, Fran Mold

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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