Main Page | Newsletter | Sailing calendar | America's Cup | Glossary

Team New Zealand attacks OneWorld

OneWorld designer Laurie Davidson says his designs for the new boats, pictured, are original

LONDON, England -- Team New Zealand members have submitted affidavits to the America's Cup arbitration panel saying rival syndicate OneWorld has critical information on its yachts.

In the most strongly worded condemnation made since the legal dispute began, Team New Zealand (TNZ) said the Seattle-based OneWorld cannot be a legitimate challenger for the 2003 America's Cup.

OneWorld has been embroiled in a legal dispute since it accused its former employee Sean Reeves of attempting to sell OneWorld design secrets to at least three challengers including Oracle, GBR Challenge and Team Dennis Conner.

Reeves, who was the lawyer for TNZ in 2000, countered the OneWorld civil action by claiming it had breached the nationality and transfer of technology rules of the America's Cup by purchasing design information on TNZ's hulls, construction and rigs – including the Millennium Rig, which took TNZ three years to develop.

RESOURCES America's Cup team profiles    YOUR SAY E-mail us with your views  on the world of sailing    QUICKVOTE Do legal wrangles spoil the America's Cup? Yes, they detract from the sport No, they add to the drama View Results

Reeves, who is no longer affiliated to any syndicate, was instrumental in bringing key members of the TNZ syndicate including its designer Laurie Davidson to OneWorld, which is backed by telecommunications billionaire Craig McCaw and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

The race rules, called the Protocol, recognise it is not possible to stop the movement of the skills and knowledge of the sailors. But designers are not allowed to transfer plans or data, even though they move from syndicate to syndicate.

His claims led to OneWorld admitting to the arbitration panel it had made a series of minor mistakes, which it says did not affect the design of its two new 2003 America's Cup boats.

The arbitration panel invited other interested parties to make any comments by last Friday.

MORE STORIES • OneWorld defeats TNZ  • Design row hits America's Cup

Initially it appeared there was some sympathy amongst the challengers with OneWorld's admissions.

In the end it is TNZ that has forced the issue by submitting affidavits that OneWorld holds illegal design and technical details on their winning 2000 boat.

TNZ says OneWorld has not made full disclosure of its breaches of the Protocol and that "condoning or minimising the seriousness of OneWorld's actions" would compromise the integrity of the America's Cup.

OneWorld designer Laurie Davidson has denied any misconduct, offering to sit down with TNZ design manager Tom Schnackenberg to compare plans to show all his designs are original.