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Skirts 'in style' at America's Cup
AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Skirts are all the fashion at the America's Cup -- and not just among the European style houses of backers Prada and Louis Vuitton. Syndicate Row in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour is a sea of skirts as six of the nine syndicates in the Louis Vuitton challengers' cup hide their latest keel designs behind shrouds. Team New Zealand (TNZ), who will defend the trophy in February against the winners of the challengers' series, has had its new boat covered from deck to waterline since it was launched last month. The team's secrecy has spurred rumours amongst locals that it is hiding a new double rudder configuration. But TNZ spokesman Murray Taylor told Reuters: "We don't want people to see the boat, it's as simple as that. "There's no sinister implications in what we're doing. It's just we want to keep whatever it is we've got to ourselves."
Boat designers have long theorised that twin rudders, one forward near the bow and the other in its normal position aft, would enable a boat to make extremely tight turns and give it a huge advantage. Even though several designers have tried to master the technology, no one has succeeded. Still the fact that six of the challengers have opted for skirts this year leaves sailing fans hoping each of the teams has come up with important technological developments. French team Le Defi Areva, Italy's second syndicate Mascalzone Latino and Team Dennis Conner are not taking precautions to protect their hull designs. Team Dennis Conner helmsman Ken Read says skirts hide boats from the public as well as from opponents. "The Cup will survive by getting more of the public involved," Read told Reuters. "Part of the excitement is seeing the boats. Covering them up just doesn't make any sense." The drive for even the smallest edge in technology has already landed some syndicates in hot water. The Italian syndicate was fined $10,000 last Friday by the cup's arbitration panel for starting legal proceedings against American challenger Oracle BMW Racing. The dispute began when Prada said Oracle was peeking into its compound from a barge moored at the end of its dock and filed legal proceedings in June in the High Court of New Zealand, saying the barge breached its privacy. The fine was imposed because the rules of the Protocol that govern the America's Cup do not allow teams to resort to the courts in any dispute. And U.S. telecommunications mogul Craig McCaw's OneWorld challenge fell out of favour with the panel and was penalised last month for possessing design secrets belonging to three rival syndicates, even though the team argued the secrets were not used in the design of their two boats. OneWorld was penalised one point from its total in the coming Louis Vuitton Cup series -- a seemingly small penalty but one which could have a significant effect in perhaps the strongest challengers' field ever assembled.
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