|
SCUTTLEBUTT No. 562 - May 4, 2000PHANTOM SYNDICATE(Following is an excerpt from a letter that was sent to Scuttlebutt by Bill Koch, Skipper of America3, and winner of the 1992 America's Cup. Mr. Koch wrote in response to the remarks made in 'Butt #560 by Allan Johnston.) I have sat back and laughed as one reporter after another repeats the same rumor over and over again: Bill Koch and Jim Clark are going to fund an America's Cup campaign. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jim Clark is perhaps my closest personal friend. In New Zealand, one night on his boat we drank a lot wine together and boasted that he and I could form a syndicate and win the America's Cup back. Even with hangovers the next day, we wondered what we could get besides some modest prestige for the $70 million we would have to spend to win. The clear answer was nothing. I know that from firsthand experience. I see Jim frequently in the U.S. Now when we drink wine, we talk of building and racing J boats, hunting, and other macho subjects. The America's Cup does not even come up, except for a laugh for what rumors are running around. Another rumor is that Jim and I are forming a super-syndicate and "buying all the TNZ sailors". Wow. That is against the America3 philosophy of competing with ordinary sailors with great attitudes and team work but no "rock stars". Last week, Dennis Conner sent me an e-mail from New Zealand, stating that he had heard that I had teamed up with Microsoft's Bill Gates to sponsor a Seattle syndicate. I have never met or spoken to Bill Gates. I don't even know if he likes to sail. Judging from the recent headlines, Gates seems to have an awful lot on his mind. Some of the rumors seem to be associated with Russell Belden, a Seattle Washington boat show operator who just purchased Il Moro 5, a boat we beat 4 races to 1 in San Diego in l992. Belden's resources are as mysterious as his choice in racing yachts. The word I got back is that Belden is telling TNZ members that Jim and I are backing his syndicate. I never talked to Belden. If what I hear is true, then my advice to Mr. Belden is that if you are going to compete in the America's Cup, get a grip on reality. Jim is a man with a lot of spontaneous ideas but he shrewdly only invests his great intellect and money in a few projects where he gets outstanding returns. I don't believe I am betraying Jim's or my confidence by telling the entire sailing community that we have no intentions of participating in the next America's Cup. Besides if we did work together it would ruin a wonderful friendship. As I read over Johnston's piece, I kept thinking, how could someone get it "so wrong." I got great pleasure and gratification in winning the Cup in l992 against predictions of all the experts and l00 to one odds, by using ordinary sailors, no rock stars, high technology, and even steering the boat. I enjoyed rattling the sailing world when I sponsored the Women's team in 1995. And I had a lot of fun reporting on the Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. It is a kick to stir the waters. Despite Johnston's claim, I did not set out to undermine Team New Zealand. Peter Blake and Alan Sefton with their arrogance and hypocritical claims did that long before I arrived. Truth be told, Peter and Alan handed me the story on a platter. I just did what any good journalist would do: ask questions. It was Blake and Sefton who went on the attack and turned the story into something bigger. Once the somnolent Kiwi press started asking questions, the government finally called for an inquiry into charitable trusts. In spite of Peter and Alan, Russell Coutts and his sailors did an outstanding job, especially considering how little money they spent. In my reports, I described Russell as the Michael Jordan and his team as the championship- Chicago Bulls of sailing. Life should be fun. Yachting needs to let "loose." That is the problem with the America's Cup right now. It is a tough, nasty, winner take all game. As Tom Blackaller said in 1983: "This America's Cup, as it is now constituted, is no God damn fun." I couldn't agree more. My plan now is to do what Ted Turner has done after he won: have nothing more to do with it. My new America's Cup is my young family. So the next time, anyone mentions me as a potential Cup participant, count me out. As Duke Ellington once said, "It don't mean a thing if ain't got that swing." - Bill Koch Allan Johnston's full comments may be read on the Sailsail website: http://www.sailsail.com/news/news-article.asp?Articleid=356 MORE AMERICA'S CUP (Following is an excerpt from Larry Edwards' story on the Quokka Website about the new Seattle based America's Cup syndicate headed by twenty-six-year-old Russell Belden.) Belden denied having any association with a group of American businessmen that's allegedly offering big bucks to key members of Cup winner Team New Zealand to defect to a U.S. team. He said he has had no discussions with billionaire Jim Clark, named as the possible leader of this group and who made his fortune as the founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape Communications Corp. Heidi Belden, the syndicate's press officer, said reports that Sean Reeves, a Team New Zealand attorney during its successful defense, is working with the Seattle group and recruiting New Zealand sailors are false. "He is not an employee of our organization and is not affiliated with our organization," she said. Said Belden: "The team that will sail our boat will be all-American. There will not be any New Zealanders on our A boat. "Even if Russell Coutts or Dean Barker offered their services for free, we would politely decline. We believe in American sport and that we can win with honor and dignity with an all-American team," he added. He did, however, say that foreign nationals might be recruited as consultants, coaches and to sail on the B boat to sharpen the skills of the racing team. Belden, who competes in PHRF and one-design regattas, said he'd be the team's CEO, but is unlikely to be on the boat as a member of the crew. He has contacted potential designers and sailors, but declined to name names. "We have a design team picked out, but I can't disclose who they are until the deal is done," he said. The same goes for the sailors. He said he will initiate formal discussions with the Seattle-based brothers Jonathan and Charlie McKee, who are on the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team (49er class), after the Olympics are over in September. He also plans to contact Carl Buchan, who lives in the Seattle area and who was a gold medallist (Flying Dutchman) in the 1984 Olympics and crewed for Dennis Conner in the 1988 America's Cup defense aboard the catamaran Stars & Stripes. Belden dismisses comments by America's Cup veterans - particularly AmericaOne's Paul Cayard - who said the five U.S. challengers in the recent AC 2000 diluted the American effort. "The more U.S. teams the better," Belden said. "I think it gives us a better chance to win." He said he has no plans to attend the first challenger meeting scheduled for June 26 in Monaco. The Seattle group is unlikely to submit its challenge to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron before October, he added. - Larry Edwards, Quokka Sports Full story: http://sailing.quokka.com/stories/05/QCMa4sail_s_stealing_WFC.html ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK Race headlines: - After 3 races local yacht "HUGO" and Jim Dolan's yacht "BRAVO" level with 5 points each in contest for Racer/Cruiser Non-Spinnaker Class - Close 4 way fight for lead in Racer/Cruiser II Class between "SPLASH TANGO" (7 pts), "TEMPTRESS"(9 pts) , "AIN'T MISBEHAVIN" (14 pts) and "SAGA" (15 pts). - SAYONARA wins 3 in a row in Big Boat Class ASW Website: http://www.sailingweek.com/ LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (leweck@earthlink.net) Letters selected to be printed are routinely edited for clarity, space (250 words max) or to exclude personal attacks. But only one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if people disagree. -- From Jonathan Udell (re Scott Truesdell's comments on GPS and the demise of SA) - How true. Not only does SA remain viable at the flick of a switch should the government feel compelled to do so (can you say "national security"?) but, as any techie can tell you, GPS enhanced by differential corrections is still superior to the non SA GPS signals, as it effectively removes atmospheric based anomalies. I only hope that his comments regarding the decommissioning of differential beacons is premature. Differential beacons should be supported regardless of the status of SA, and it is in all sailors best interest to express that opinion to their elected representatives. -- From John Diggins - Two years ago the issue of the scrambled GPS signals was analyzed, and the Defense Community realized that any standardized wiggle in the system could be corrected by Differential systems. The intelligent solution was adopted - Take the wiggle out, knowing that a wild card shift could be instituted instantaneously, to confound a missile in transit. Users of GPS benefit every day and prospective terrorist abuse of the system is thwarted. Who would have thunk the military could be that intelligent ??!!? -- From Skip Lissiman America's Cup crew member 1980, 1983, 1987 - I read with interest the article about the idea of a large slab of the Kiwi team defecting to join a rival US syndicate. I may be old fashioned, but I have trouble with the whole nationality saga in the America's Cup contest. I know the sport of sailing now has a great deal of professionals who derive their income from working for which ever team or country pays the best, in all contests - Volvo Race, Admirals Cup, ect. What I would like to see in future, but for the America's Cup is the sailing teams crewed by true nationals (or better still citizens) of that country. I don't have a problem with "foreign" coaches, or designers, who work with Am Cup teams (Doug Peterson, Rod Davis and Alan Smith) like Prada in the last Cup, but deep down it doesn't quite seem right that Peter Gilmour should steer a Japanese America's Cup boat. Sure - going back to the early history of the America's Cup a lot of the professional crews (on the American boats) in the America's Cup were Scandinavian, but surely let the ultimate sailing contest be a test of sailing skill from the nation challenging. -- From Bruce Parsons, Newfoundland, Canada - The USA has always been and always will be the only place in the world where you can attain nationality in one's own lifetime, and everyone will accept it. If I moved to any other country in the world, if would take generations for me to become French, say, or Italian, and in fact it probably could never happen. Isn't this historically how America was built - everyone is an immigrant, even those of us who have ancestors who came to Boston in 1630, as I do, is an immigrant. Only the indigenous peoples can say they are Americans, and they only beat the rest of us by a few thousand years. So the belly aching about importing talent seems disingenuous to me - this is how America was built. Werner von Braun died an American, as did Einstein. Laurie Davidson has been an American for thirty years, Clay Oliver I believe was born one, but it makes no difference. America has always attracted talent and it continues to do so. I propose that no one whose ancestors came to North America later than 1650 is eligible to work for an American syndicate - this is the only way I will get on the team! Would this satisfy those who are worried that the team is not sufficiently "American", and assuage the wounded nationalistic pride of the losing team? Why is the richest nation in the world so insecure about these things? It is after all, just a sailboat race. -- From Ned Roseberry - There is a lot of National pride that accompanies international sailing, no matter what the class or style of boat. International results have long been compelling, with continued great successes in many classes, and type of boat. It would be a different story if the US didn't have the talent win this thing back, but there are a hell of a lot of great, great American sailors and designers who deserve the opportunity to win this thing back, and most definitely have the skill to do so. Also, the heroes of the sport are what inspires young sailors to strive for success, whether it be at the Olympic level, Americas Cup, or class sailing. What type of message do we send to the next generation of American sailor if we effectively outsource the cup? There is no sense in looking outside for an answer to a question which is more than capable of being answered within. -- From Ken Guyer - I don't think I have ever had as good a chuckle as when reading the Butt Extra about the desire to buy the Kiwi team in order to win the Cup back for the good ole USA! Pretty hilarious stuff. Now let me get this straight, Team Dennis Conner was kept from a race off against Prada because they had a rudder designed by their U.S. designers assembled in Australia from U.S. parts and pieces. The reason for this was it violated the spirit of the nationality rule!!! WOW! -- From J. Joseph Bainton - To those who criticize the notion of an American syndicate "buying" TNZ in the hope of buying the AC, I suggest that when followed to its logical conclusion this can be a good thing, if only we can somehow eliminate totally yacht racing from the AC. Consider the fundamental proposition - the syndicate that raises the most money wins. If we simply award the America's Cup to the syndicate which raises the most money at the end of a defined period; eliminate the need to spend a penny of it on sailing; and then contribute the war chests of all syndicates which chose to "compete" to one or more worthy causes, such as cancer research or feeding the poor of the world, this can prove to be a good thing. If folks find this too radical a proposition and instead insist on racing, then the image of Conner as defender and Coutts as challenger illustrates just how far the current AC scene has departed from the wishes of those who deeded the gift of a single, unremarkable silver cup in aid of friendly competition among nations. Personally, I take great comfort from the fact that tennis survived its commercialization, while raising the general level of play, and yacht racing will likely do the same. -- From Tom Scannell - What am I missing? Why not just buy the boat(s)? -- From Mark Van Note - You may as well kiss the television coverage goodbye for the next cup. ESPN is probably already cringing over the idea of explaining to new sailing viewers why the Seattle Team New Zealand is racing the other Team New Zealand for the America's Cup. What a mess. I cannot wait for the Volvo to start! -- From Morgan Larson (With regards to the AC gossip) - It's all a bunch of BS. How can the Kiwi's get their sponsors to sign up again in a hurry for a lot more $? Spread a bunch of rumors that they are being offered a lot more money from foreign teams. Smart fellas, I guess that's why they won the Cup again! ONLINE INSIGHT Dinghy sailors now have a venue to ask for sailing advice and discuss topics of special interest on-line in the new Vanguard Sailing Forums are hosted by the Quokka Sports Network. Dinghy sailors will also have the opportunity to get tips and insight about One-Design sailing directly from sailing's biggest names in a series of four on-line chats, organized by the Vanguard-Quokka Team. This on-line coverage and dialogue with experts will give dinghy sailors an insider's view to the world of One-Design racing: http://sailing.quokka.com/forums/community.html YACHTING CUP SAN DIEGO, Calif. - A fleet of about 140 boats will compete Saturday and Sunday in the Yachting Cup. The event leads off the second Volvo Inshore Championships series. A prelude to Yachting Cup is the Leukemia Cup twilight race inside San Diego Bay on Friday at 4 o'clock. Yachting Cup will have two venues. Schock 35s, preparing for the Lipton Cup later this month, will sail in South Bay, along with Melges 24s, J/105s and the PHRF 5 class. The other classes - ULDB 70 sleds, Farr 40s, J/120s, 1D35s and the larger PHRF classes - will compete around the buoys on two courses in Coronado Roads off the beach. Dennis Conner, with co-owner Mike Herman, will sail their new J/120 Stars & Stripes. Conner's crew will include two veterans from his recent America's Cup campaign, helmsman Ken Read and Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Eric Doyle. The Farr 40 class especially shows some familiar names, including recent America's Cup participants Kimo Worthington and Stu Argo on Peter Stoneberg's Shadow, Peter Holmberg on Philippe Kahn's Orion and John Cutler, Eric Arndt and Steve Gruver on David Thomson's Peregrine. Olympic medalists Robbie Haines and Jeff Madrigali will be aboard Alexandra Geremia's Crocodile Rock and Michael Condon's Endurance, respectively. - Rich Roberts Event website: http://www.sdyc.org CLARIFICATION Yes, I know I ran the same 'Curmudgeon's Observation' on both Monday and Tuesday. Contrary to what some have suggested, it was simply a clerical error that caused the repetition - not the lingering effects of the 60s. You should know that the curmudgeon was already an old fart in the 60s - far too corporate and straight for tie-die clothing and the other fun things that were going on during that era. It was probably the 90s when I learned most of my bad habits THE CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL You can't trust dogs to watch your food. |
