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SCUTTLEBUTT #512 - February 23, 2000AMERICA'S CUP:JURY GIVES APPROVAL TO NETWORK The International Jury for the America's Cup Match has formally approved Team New Zealand's use of an onboard radio network that delivers instructions from the skipper to the crew. Team New Zealand asked the International Jury for an interpretation of Match Condition 19.1 to confirm that its onboard communication system complies with the condition. In approving the system, the Jury referred to Article 26 of the Protocol, which holds competitors to the spirit and intent of the rules. Team New Zealand developed the special magnetic, one-way radio network with the assistance of Phonak New Zealand, Ltd. Microphones positioned in front of the steering wheels are connected to the input of a standard audio amplifier. The output is connected to a wire loop under the deck of New Zealand, which creates a time-varying magnetic field. -- Sean McNeill, Quokka Sports. Full article at http://www.americascup.org BERTELLI FURIOUS AFTER DEFEAT Prada presented Team New Zealand with a second victory in the America's Cup in a calamitous day for the Italian challengers after their defeat in the first race on Sunday. The day began with a poor start from Francesco de Angelis and became worse when Luna Rossa's keel picked up debris in the Hauraki Gulf. A crewman was injured in the scramble to free it and the day ended with Patrizio Bertelli, Prada's syndicate head, berating the huge Italian media contingent. Bertelli's frustration-fuelled haranguing about the event's coverage was colourful and sustained in front of an embarrassed de Angelis and his tactician Torben Grael. To witness Bertelli so rattled was the last thing they needed when trying to put a 2min 43sec defeat out of their minds. -- Tim Jeffrey, www.telegraph.co.uk The third race of the best-of-nine series begins today at 1:15 PM Auckland Time (4:15 PM Pacific Standard Time). TIME RUNNING OUT ON TEAM HEINER A campaign headed by Roy Heiner for the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race is running out of time, having been unsuccessful in obtaining the necessary funding. "We have been trying really hard but it at the moment it looks like it is not going to happen. Most of our corporate contacts have dried up. It seems sailing does not get the support other sports get. Maybe we would have had a chance if we had a boat or some seed money to convince corporate sponsors of this great opportunity" said Heiner. Timing is everything: it will take 6 months to design, 7 months to build a boat. If the team gets funding by the end of this March they would have just 5 months of training time prior to the start of the race on September 23 2001. -- more at www.teamheiner.com. LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (scuttlebutt@boats.com -- note temporary address for guest editor) 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 Scott Greenawalt Why not put the umpires in the helicopters? Since the racing has already started I know it's too late to start now, but the view is tremendous! Starts/Overlaps/crossings would be a lot easier to see. It just makes a lot of sense to me. -- From Carter Perrin I've got to say I think Jim Sears has a great way to add fun and excitement to watching the America's Cup on television. It sounds very similar to the way in which we added excitement to watching the movie "Top Gun" in college, except we used the names "Maverick", "Goose", and "Iceman". By the way, does anyone know where I can get a copy of the LV Final tapes so I can play the home version?
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