Aucklandgate: The latest accusations

Team New Zealand accuse OneWorld of more foul play.

OneWorld has put their hands up to the Panel on points where they believe they may have broken the rules. But the New Zealander’s are still incensed. They have fresh evidence that OneWorld acquired valuable testing and design information from 1995 to 2000 and may have brought themselves up to the speed of the dominant NZL-60 with a cheque book. It does not matter that the aim is to design a faster boat than the Cup winner, professional ethics and rules have allegedly been swept under the carpet.
There are a number of other issues Team New Zealand is keen to explore. One instance is Chief Designer Laurie Davidson’s transfer between the defence and OneWorld camps and the subsequent knowledge of the 2003 tank testing programme he may have left with. The rule of thumb is that people can only leave syndicates with the information that is stored in their mind and strictly nothing at all in hard copy.

Team New Zealand refute OneWorld’s assertion that Team New Zealand tank test photographs held by Davidson could not be used to identify design trends and other information.

And you thought it was complicated so far? Now things really get tricky.

Prada weighed into proceedings with an affidavit that states that a folder of their sail designs may be in the possession of a OneWorld employee. Several other syndicates joined Team New Zealand and asked the Panel for a full enquiry or hearing into all the facts and aspects of the case, some of which were not included in the OneWorld declaration but were outlined in Sean Reeves’ affidavit (statement of defence) for the Seattle court case.

As such, the defenders filed a submission with the Arbitration Panel a week ago in response to the OneWorld application as they feel that a number of pertinent facts that will make a difference to the bearing of this case have been sanitised by OneWorld though legalise.

In a statement to madforsailing, Team New Zealand’s Legal expert and Rules Advisor Russell Green explained: "Team New Zealand has filed a submission in response to OneWorld’s application in accordance with the Arbitration Panel direction with evidence by the way of affidavits. This issue is very serious because it involves a fundamental rule prohibiting the transfer of design information from one syndicate to another. We have full confidence in the Arbitration Panel process in determining the issue."

Green is certainly being kept on his toes by all of this. He has likened OneWorld’s stash of information on his team that they claim has not been incorporated in their 2003 Cup designs is the equivalent to saying 'I smoked but I did not inhale'.

"We would like to see the true facts ascertained by the Arbitration Panel and if that requires a full hearing we believe it may be the best way to do it," continues Green. The America’s Cup is worth NZL$640m to the New Zealand economy and of course the Kiwi’s are fearful of losing it.

It’s not all accusations though, credit has been given by the New Zealander’s to some former team members for having confidential information from personal computers purged before they left to join OneWorld. Team New Zealand also claim others deliberately did not.

OneWorld CEO Gary Wright stands firmly and unequivocally behind his team and has made his views on this debacle clear to the host nation of the Cup in an open letter to the editor of the New Zealand Herald, which has been made available to madforsailing (see page three).

This matter is sure to plummet to new depths before being resolved, and it will be long after the 2003 Cup series (if indeed ever) before the whole sage is finally laid to rest and the truth exposed.

Finally, Team New Zealand did not just lose sailors to OneWorld as Wright pointed out. Will the other ‘defectors’ be drawn in further this down the road?

Madforsailing will keep you updated with the Arbitration Panel ruling.

Page three.... Wright’s letter.