Major changes have been announced at Team New Zealand
with the resignation of the entire board and the appointment
of two new directors.
As soon as the America's Cup began its journey to Switzerland
a change of guard at Team New Zealand was inevitable
and once the report on what went wrong was out heads
were going to roll.
Heading out is the old guard of Ralph Norris, the current
Air NZ boss, businessman Peter Menzies, and Saatchi's
head Kevin Roberts and Canadian entrepreneur and yachtsman
John Ridsley.
Managing director Grant Dalton said yesterday the four
directors had made their own decision to leave the board
and welcomed the changes which he says needed to be
made to attract would-be sponsors and crew.
"They inherited the team in a tough situation," he said.
"They took the hard decision of releasing the report
into what went wrong with the defence. In the report
they said they would review their own positions . .
. They decided their watch was over."
Replacing them are high profile Auckland lawyer Jim
Farmer QC and Gary Paykel of Fisher and Paykel.
Dalton's association with Paykel goes back to the day
of his Whitbread round the world race campaign on Fisher
and Paykel. Framer is also a passionate yachtsman campaigning
his highly successful yacht Georgia and has numerous
major yachting connections. He is confident the cup
can be reclaimed.
Farmer has previously held close ties with Team NZ defectors
Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth - he represented
them during the torrid negotiations to run Team NZ that
eventually caused the duo to quit and sign with Alinghi.
Dalton said two more board members would probably be
appointed - with one in Europe where the next challenge
will be held - to manage a campaign budget of less than
$150 million.
"I can understand a lot of people are sceptical of us
raising the money and they have every reason to. But
we've got until March next year and we're confident."
"We have around 20 people signed up now," added
Dalton. "No name at this stage to say but they
are from the old and they are from in one case down
the road and they are from overseas as well. Sponsorship
wise we can start to see our way through the money.
I know that's optimistic but you've got to be optimistic
in this game that's for sure".
America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard said last night
the government had promised the team $30m - conditional
on it raising $60m of its own. There was "not a chance"
of a single dollar more from the government.
Team
NZ's secret bid for Government cash (07/18/03)
(source
: NZ
Herald)
Team New Zealand was secretly seeking taxpayers'
money from the Government for a fresh challenge before
it lost the America's Cup to Alinghi in a 5-0 whitewash.
The request is revealed in Cabinet papers released under
the Official Information Act yesterday. The Government
has promised almost $34 million to the syndicate if
it can mount a credible challenge.
America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard said in a briefing
paper for the Cabinet that Team New Zealand wanted increased
financial support.
"Team New Zealand believes it will struggle to generate
sufficient sponsorship income ... to meet the costs
of mounting a successful challenge for the America's
Cup, without increased support from the Government,"
he said.
The papers show the Cabinet approved an initial $5.6
million payment one day after the cup was lost, on March
2. But a later Cabinet minute, on April 14, tightened
the conditions for extra sponsorship money.
It rescinded the March 3 decision and imposed new conditions,
requiring Team New Zealand to get the bulk of its budget
established before it could claim extra Government money.
Dean
Barker back at the helm (06/30/03)
(source
: NZoom)
A number of Team New Zealand and other America's
Cup sailors are part of the 59-strong fleet, the largest
in 18 years, racing in the 42nd biennial Transpacific
Yacht race from Los Angeles to Honolulu starting this
week.
Incumbent skipper Dean Barker will join forces with
former Stars and Stripes navigator Peter Isler on Roy
E Disney's yacht Pyewacket.
Team
NZ close in on their recruitment targets (06/27/03)
(source
: NZ
Herald)
"We are in final discussions with around 20 people
at this stage in the area of design and sailing,"
Grant Dalton said. "I don't have any reason to suspect
any of those deals will fall over."
"There are a lot from the old team but there is a
lot of new people as well," Dalton added of the 20.
"There are people that will come into here from other
teams, people that have been involved in the America's
Cup in previous years for Team New Zealand."
Dalton would not elaborate on the names, saying he
didn't want to give his team's game away. But it is
known that Dalton has met former Illbruck sailors
John Kostecki and Ross Halcrow and has already appointed
British-born Andy Claughton as the design co-ordinator.
Claughton has a long history with the New Zealand
syndicate. As manager of the tank and wind-testing
programmes, he was part of the successful campaigns
in 1995 and 2000 and was with the New Zealand Challenge
in 1988 and 1992 and KZ7 in 1987.
It is also understood Dalton has been in discussions
with former OneWorld sailor and Aucklander Kevin Shoebridge
in relation to the role of sailing manager.
Skipper Dean Barker, former syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg
and former chief executive Ross Blackman all have
contracts until the end of the campaign but Dalton
would not comment on the future of former designers
Mike Drummond and Clay Oliver.
"We have deliberately worked on the changes in the
team personnel-wise before hitting the money trail
really hard, simply because one of the first questions
asked is, 'What are the changes'?" Dalton said. But
the discussions he has had with potential sponsors,
including the family of five, have gone well.
Kostecki
close to signing said Dalton (06/26/03)
(source
: NZ
City)
Team New Zealand has confirmed it is close to
signing up champion American sailor John Kostecki.
Syndicate boss Grant Dalton held talks with Kostecki,
and former Team New Zealand crew member Ross Halcrow,
last month but says nothing has been signed yet.
He says the meetings went well and they have agreed
to a deal in principal. Dalton says Kostecki is arguably
the best tactician in the world at the moment. H
Dalton says 20 sailors and designers have contracts
in front of them at the moment and also has announced
his intentions to sail Team New Zealand in a build-up
America's Cup regatta off Newport in the US in a year's
time (the Newport event will be the first of the seeding
regattas for the 2007 America's Cup).
Kostecki
talks set to continue (06/23/03)
(source
: Stuff.co.nz)
Veteran sailor John Kostecki has returned home
to the United States after meeting Team New Zealand
boss Grant Dalton and skipper Dean Barker.
Kostecki and fellow Illbruck sailor Ross Halcrow have
both been in talks with Dalton and Barker in Auckland.
It is understood neither Kostecki nor Halcrow, who
sailed with Team New Zealand in 1995 and with the
New Zealand Challenge in 1992, have signed contracts
with the New Zealand America's Cup syndicate.
However, both are expected to return to Auckland for
further talks later this month.
Time
for a change at Team NZ ? (06/20/03)
(source
: NZ
City)
Speculation is mounting of an imminent change
at the top of Team New Zealand. The four directors have
been reviewing their futures since releasing a report
on the loss of the America's Cup.
At least three of the four directors of the Team's trustee
company are now expected to walk. Most likely are John
Risley and Kevin Roberts, who are based off-shore.
That leaves Ralph Norris - also CEO of Air New Zealand
- and Peter Menzies, who declined to comment.
Michael
Illbruck denies Kostecki rumours (06/13/03)
(source
: Yacht.de)
"John Kostecki is still a firm component of
the team", clarified Michael Illbruck after Grant Dalton
quotes about a meeting with the United States Olympian
and world sailing champion.
German businessman explained that the talks and meetings
are "natural discussions between the teams".
"The Team Pinta Racing and in particular me are
completely informed when such discussions run and with
the contents. everyting is normal ", he added.
According to Michael Illbruck, the team progresses and
is "fully in the schedule and already well."
