The one million dollar brain drain

GBR Challenge are the latest to implicate Sean Reeves in a plot to sell Team New Zealand secrets for a cool million...

Barnes's decision to make this statement will weigh heavily against Reeves, who has denied having made a similar offer to Oracle Racing's Chris Dickson. With Barnes and Dickson making similar allegations, Reeves will have to call on all his skills as a lawyer to persuade the court of his innocence in the matter.
American newspaper USA Today quotes sections of Dickson's declaration to the court. Dickson states: "He [Reeves] said that he held knowledge from the design and technical perspective of the OneWorld Challenge programme and the previous Team New Zealand programme."

Reeves also said that he had come to a financial settlement with OneWorld that was less than he had been expecting and that he was looking to recover some of his losses. "Reeves told me that he held line plans, rig plans, keel plans and deck layouts but did not specify for which boats or which teams." After a 30-minute conversation, Dickson said Oracle was not interested in receiving any information.

But according to USA Today, Reeves has argued that he and Dickson chatted about old yachting stories and their babies. Reeves denied offering information to Oracle or any other syndicate and said he would sue OneWorld over the allegations.

Reeves is no stranger to controversy. Having played a key role in Team New Zealand's successful challenge and defence of the America's Cup in 1995 and 2000, he was instrumental in luring key members of the Kiwi squad last year to OneWorld with US$60,000 signing-on fees and US$150,000 annual salaries, a big carrot after the low wages associated with sailing for the home land.

The three Kiwis at the centre of this scandal go back a long way. Reeves won the Youth World Championships crewing for Dickson in a Laser II back in 1980, and in 1984 at the 470 World Championships in New Zealand, Barnes, Dickson and Reeves trounced the foreign teams by finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. Happy days, but ones that they are unlikely to reminisce over after this court case is over.