Mystery Men

Ed Gorman reviews the form of News Corp the Volvo boat that nobody rated

News Corp also seemed to be having problems finding crew and lost some key people on the way both from the shore team and off the boat. The most notable among them was Neal McDonald who left to join the GBR Challenge for the America's Cup but then, when family commitments gave him the opportunity to return to the Volvo fleet, he chose to join Assa Abloy, not News Corp.

But a month later, it is News Corp that is on the podium alongside Illbruck and Amer Sports One and when they got to the Tavern of the Seas, several of their more fancied rivals were still hundreds of miles away beating slowly into gale-force headwinds.

In truth News Corp's performance in the first leg was solid rather than spectacular. Several rival crews reported "sailing past" the blue and white boat with the Bart Simpson motif on the side at various moments but, overall, it would be hard to argue that the boat is off the pace or that the sail programme developed at North in Auckland with the benefit of input of two Team New Zealand designer, has left any yawning gaps to be filled.

Leadership too has looked strong and sensible. Field often talks about a "flat management style" which has had some of his rivals chuckling that they have too many chiefs and not enough Indians on News Corp. What it means in practice is a team approach to decision-making where Field, Fanstone, meterologist Nick White and the experienced watch captains Jeff Scott and Steve Cotton all work together. It is a modest, unflashy style which seems to have worked.