Yachting: Busload of Kiwis rolls up for Cup launch

By NICK PERRY and SUZANNE McFADDEN

SEATTLE - It may be called OneWorld, but the latest America's Cup challenge launched in Seattle yesterday could be better recognised as New Zealand Two.

A busload of former Team New Zealand sailors, designers and engineers rolled up to the Seattle Yacht Club to reveal the Cup plans of billionaire Craig McCaw.

Fifteen New Zealanders have so far signed up with the OneWorld Challenge - 13 of them jumping ship from Team New Zealand.

A subdued air surrounded the Kiwis, who arrived from a two-hour meeting with McCaw, the man conspicuously absent from the launch.

Grinder Craig Monk summed up the feelings of the defectors: "It's going to take a while for it to sink in that we are not sailing for New Zealand, that's for sure."

The defections have cut to the heart of Team New Zealand. Six sailors from the last two campaigns have signed: Monk, Jeremy Scantlebury, Matt Mason, Andrew Taylor, Richard Dodson and Peter Waymouth.

The losses are equally strong from the design side. Hull designer Laurie Davidson, fluid dynamicist Richard Karn, and engineers Ian Mitchell, Wayne Smith and Neil Wilkinson were all in Seattle.

Also on board are Kiwi sail designer Mike Spanhake, back-up trimmer for Team NZ in 1995, and boatbuilder Peter Sowman, who helped to build the '95 Black Magics.

Former Team NZ legal adviser Sean Reeves helped to sign up his team-mates, while another New Zealander asked the syndicate to keep his name secret.

Monk said the team spent two hours with McCaw in the morning, talking over the OneWorld challenge and signing contracts. He would not say how much any of the team was getting paid.

Davidson, described as an "American" by OneWorld now that he has citizenship, says he is bringing a boat design to Seattle which is faster than either of the black boats which won in March.

The septuagenarian said he was delighted to be working with such a talented technical team and had "absolutely no regrets" leaving Team New Zealand.

Australian skipper Peter Gilmour heads the sailing team - many of the Kiwis held off joining the campaign until they knew the former world matchracing champion was signed up.

McCaw, ranked 66 on Forbes magazine's world rich list, has not spoken publicly about the campaign. Team members said he did not want to be at the forefront of the challenge. The official line yesterday was McCaw could not be present "because of extended travel outside the Seattle area."

But McCaw's spokesman, Bob Ratliffe, said McCaw was not one for "standing up and pounding his chest in front of the camera."

The campaign will have a strong conservation theme. Former Team NZ head Sir Peter Blake says McCaw has done more for marine environment than "any other person in the entire world."

Team NZ: who's in, who's out

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