By SUZANNE McFADDEN
Team New Zealand will fight to the death to keep experienced crewman Tony Rae from jumping ship.
Rae, who declared three weeks ago that he would rejoin the troubled defenders for the next America's Cup, will decide today whether he stays or goes.
The talented 38-year-old mainsail trimmer has been
the target of serious courting from the world's richest man, software billionaire Larry Ellison, and his new United States syndicate.
Rae has just returned home from sailing on Ellison's maxi, Sayonara, in the Newport-Bermuda race, where it is understood the big offer was made to him.
He met Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker and chief executive Ross Blackman yesterday to discuss the situation.
The Team NZ leaders are determined to convince Rae to stay with their campaign, but did not want to comment on their difficult task.
Rae has been involved in New Zealand campaigns since he was a trimmer on KZ7 in 1987. In the last Cup, he was the man responsible for unclipping and reattaching the backstays in a revolutionary move on the black boat.
He was also part of Barker's five-man crew who won the world matchracing championships in Croatia. It was there that he announced he would stay with Team NZ after turning down three other offers.
Yesterday's news was another jolt to the devastated Kiwi camp, coming just 24 hours after 13 Team NZ crew and designers defected to another big-money American syndicate, OneWorld Challenge in Seattle.
The Ellison challenge, yet to be given a name, has already lured Team New Zealand trimmer Robbie Naismith and sail designer Mickey Ickert.
It is understood that Kiwi skipper Chris Dickson will head the sailing team and New Zealand designer Bruce Farr will draw their boats.
Late last month, Rae, one of the world's most likeable yachties, told the Herald he had decided to turn down offers from three foreign syndicates.
He had received a "pretty serious" offer from Seattle, was approached by Prada and had spoken to Ellison.
"With all this going on, I had to make a decision. And now I'm able to stay with Team New Zealand which is what I really wanted to do all along," he said on May 31.
Two other Team NZ sailors, Grant Loretz and Peter Evans, have yet to make up their minds where their America's Cup futures lie.
Team NZ: who's in, who's out
America's Cup feature
