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Problems
on the GBR
Challenge road
(03/01/03)
(source
: Times)
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Peter Harrison, the man who funded the GBR Challenge
in the last Louis Vuitton Cup, is facing a deeper and
serious malaise afflicting the heart of his campaign.
The man is a great enthusiast, he is passionate about
sailing and boats, patriotic and loyal to his employees,
but he has lost the respect of his own sailing team.
For all his qualities, Harrison is an egotist. He is
embarrassingly open about his desire for official recognition
in the form of an honour of some kind. He finds it hard
to listen and learn from people, he can be inflexible
and he does not seem to understand that an opposing
view is not a threat to his position.
Along the way a lot of the people working for him have
become exasperated and fed-up. As one key observer put
it: "Just because you have a £300 million fortune
does not mean people respect you — you have to earn
their respect."
Modern racing sailors, by their very nature, tend to
be bright, articulate and switched-on people who see
themselves as at the cutting edge of a technologically
advanced sport. The best are fluid and creative thinkers
with a realistic sense of how to go about achieving
their goals.
Many of the GBR Challenge team have achieved excellence
in other fields of sailing and are modest individuals
who find it difficult to reconcile their own values
with those of Harrison.
The comparison between Harrison’s relationship with
his sailors and Bertarelli’s could not be more stark.
The Swiss billionaire has created a team and a marketing
concept from nothing in three years.
One of the cornerstones of his success is the genuine
and unforced respect that he enjoys from his sailors
and designers. Bertarelli has developed an open-minded
and creative atmosphere, he has raced on his own boat
as of right and he has trained with his team just like
anyone else.
The problem is that Harrison presented himself two years
ago and said, in effect, “this is my campaign and my
campaign is me”. As a result, many of the GBR Challenge’s
strengths and weaknesses draw directly on his own strengths
and weaknesses.
These have become more obvious as the campaign has progressed
and especially so in recent weeks as it has begun to
unravel after its elimination from the Louis Vuitton
Cup.
One of the biggest obstacles to further progress is
the difficulty that Harrison has had, and is going to
have, convincing corporate partners to join his personality-led
outfit. He is going to have to work exceptionally hard
to convince the corporate world to join him.
He must also think again about the manner in which he
manages his team and how to create a working relationship
with which his team feel comfortable. |
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GBR
Challenge ready to go again (03/01/03)
(source
: GBR
Challenge)
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Over the past two months the GBR Challenge
Management Team has been reviewing the 2000 - 2003 campaign
and developing ongoing plans and budgets for a second
campaign based on the two possible outcomes of this
31st America’s Cup Match between Team New Zealand and
Alinghi of Switzerland.
Peter Harrison, Founder and Chairman, and other members
of the GBR Challenge Management Team announced today
a plan for a conditional second challenge which focuses
on two areas:
- A design and development programme
- A plan to attract commercial partners to participate
in the next campaign
"We are committed to ensuring that GBR Challenge
is in the best possible position to progress forward",
Peter Harrison commented."The experience we have
gained in this New Zealand campaign is invaluable and
we all know that to win, there is no substitute for
ongoing momentum and participation."
The design and commercial partnership programmes will
start in the UK in April 2003 and will be led by Derek
Clark and Leslie Ryan respectively.
As Peter Harrison announced at the January 2003 London
Boat Show, it is his intention to put together a second
challenge but he has made this conditional upon attracting
commercial partners to work with the team in meeting
the funding objectives and to share in the benefits
resulting from such involvement.
Leslie Ryan, Head of Sponsorship and Marketing, explained
"For this current campaign we were successful in
attracting 32 sponsors from a standing start to support
us – mainly as goods in kind deals with some cash contribution
all amounting to around £3m worth of support".
"In going forward we obviously need to raise our
game and attract more substantial commercial partners.
We now have the benefit of a track record together with
a possible 3 to 4 year period ahead of us in which to
attract commercial partners to work with us".
"We need to use this time sensibly to need to assess
our past approach to attracting commercial partners
to GBR Challenge and package together a compelling proposal
– whenever and wherever the next America’s Cup is to
be held."
Following on from the completion of the team’s testing
programme to Christmas 2002, the GBR Challenge Management
Team have put together both a 12 and an 18 month plan
based upon what might be a 3 or a 4 year campaign depending
on the outcome of the racing.
Derek Clark, GBR Challenge Design Co-ordinator, commented
"Our design team has been working here in Auckland
since the completion of our testing and race programme.
Our learning over the last 3 months has been invaluable".
"This announcement is a great boost to the whole
team and will provide an excellent platform for success
in the next America’s Cup."
Design team members include Rob Humphreys, Phil Morrison
and Akihiro Kanai. Confidential discussions are also
underway with a view to strengthening that team with
current America’s Cup designers but for obvious reasons
these discussions are confidential at this stage.
There will be no sailing programme in the plan for 2003
and schedules will only be decided when the next America’s
Cup Defender, venue and timing are known.
GBR Challenge is very keen to retain and build on the
talent and experience they have developed within the
sailing team and during this year the sailors will be
able to pursue their own programmes before the longer
term schedule is finalised and a team pulled back together.
Ian Walker, Skipper, commented "The entire GBR
Challenge team have been involved in a review process
which has been invaluable. Understandably there is no
sailing programme in the plan for 2003. The focus will
be on design and fundraising and the sailing activities
will be defined once more is known about the next event.
For that reason I intend to pursue my interest in the
Olympics and other sailing projects".
"My close relationship with Peter Harrison and
the team will continue – one of my ambitions is still
to be part of a winning British America’s Cup Team."
The advantage to GBR Challenge of continuing into a
second challenge will undoubtedly be the fact that they
are starting off with the two current AC boats and a
considerable database of experience and performance
together with the basis of a talented design team.
The America’s Cup is essentially a design technology
race and GBR Challenge has demonstrated that they could
put together a very successful sailing team in only
18 months. The emphasis in this initial programme is
on continuing design development in which key members
of the sailing team are involved. |
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Ruthless
self-interest out on the Gulf (02/13/03)
(source
: Yachts
& Yachting)
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One of the most interesting parts of unveiling
day was the muted rumblings from the Alinghi camp that
the Challenger of Record Prada syndicate was seen to
be racing against Team New Zealand, in a flagrant breach
of a signed mutual understanding that the challengers
would not in any way assist the defenders.
This is not the first time this has happened in the
America’s Cup as in 2000 Team New Zealand lined up against
the Nippon Challenge and all hell broke loose with Prada’s
boss Patrizio Bertelli bitterly complaining to the then
challenger of record, the New York Yacht Club.
Moves were taken to stop this happening in 2003 as Prada
took the reigns of the challengers but just three days
after the Louis Vuitton Cup concluded, the Oracle camp
witnessed Prada shadow boxing with the Kiwis.
Chris Dickson happily leant his name to the claim whilst
Oracle’s rules advisor Tom Ehman also added weight to
one of the more significant moves in the Cup so far.
Yesterday at the unveiling ceremony, Alinghi’s pitman
Josh Belsky again confirmed the rumour and if it’s true
then what could be the motives behind the Italians breaching
their own rule?
Ruthless self-interest is at the heart of the matter.
Bertelli is anxious that the Cup doesn’t go to Europe
as there have been tentative approaches made by up to
four Italian syndicates and that the ‘Prada’ syndicate
wouldn’t be able to compete in the exposure stakes.
Prada had it pretty easy in the 2000 Cup but in 2003,
they were well off the pace and out-manoeuvred by the
Latin Rascals of Mascalzone Latino. Vincenzo Onorato’s
team from the Island of Elba were taken dearly to the
Kiwi public’s heart and Prada were forced to up their
PR effort both in Auckland and at home to get any kind
of positive reaction.
Prada’s starting helmsman, Kiwi Rod Davis has also joined
the Team New Zealand camp and one can’t help but think
that there’s something very fishy going on between Prada
and TNZ. Presumably Davis is out of contract with the
Italians now and is entitled to sail for whoever he
likes but it’s mightily coincidental that he should
come from a syndicate that initiated a rule that sys
‘no collaboration.’
Furthermore and rather shockingly comes the rumour that
Prada were not alone in collaborating with Team New
Zealand. GBR Challenge is also embroiled in the mire
with speculation surrounding their testing period just
after they were knocked out by Stars & Stripes in the
quarter-finals.
Peter Harrison kept the sailing team alive and kicking
to the end of December to trial new equipment and to
see if the team could get the ‘helicopter’ GBR-78 to
work. In this time-frame, Team New Zealand apparently
shadow-boxed with the British on the open waters of
the Gulf but within the same wind bands.
If true, GBR could be shooting themselves in the foot
for the next Cup. Rumours were that the Royal Ocean
Racing Club were being considered for the next Challenger
of Record role. That may still be on the cards if TNZ
win but if Alinghi do it then Harrison has made a poor
judgement call.
All of which adds fuel to Alinghi’s fire that if they
do heist the Cup back to Europe for the first time since
1851 then they are going to instigate radical and sweeping
changes. |
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Peter
Harrison faces crucial year (01/08/03)
(Source
:
BBC)
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GBR Challenge supremo Peter Harrison knows the
next 12 months could be make-or-break if he is to realise
his dream of competing in the next America's Cup.
The entrepreneur shelled out about £22m on Britain's
first America's Cup challenge for 15 years. The team
eventually lost to Dennis Conner's experienced Stars
and Stripes team in the quarter-finals of the Louis
Vuitton Cup in Auckland in November 2002.
Harrison is desperate to have another crack at what
he calls the "World Cup of sailing", and says he is
willing to finance at least another year of the campaign.
But he admits he may walk away if no other sponsors
come forward to share the cost of the project.
"At the moment I've put all the key things in place
as if we are going forward," Harrison told BBC. "It
doesn't make sense to shut up shop. "It's going to be
a tough decision but at the end of 12 months I'm going
to have to question whether I go through it all again
on my own or say 'I'm not going any further'."
When GBR Challenge crashed out of the Cup, the majority
of the sailing team were released to pursue other projects.
But Harrison is injecting a further £4.5m into GBR Challenge
in 2003 to keep a core team of designers working on
developing the boats in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
He will also consider buying in top designers from outside
the GBR Challenge set up. "It is a technology race.
You have to have competent crews and fit people, and
you have to get the tactics and the weather right,"
he said. "But you still have to have a speedy boat and
we were just a little bit off the pace."
Meanwhile, he will resume his search through the business
world for partners.
"Second time around we'll have a much better chance,
though I'm not saying we'll win," said Harrison. "It
could be a long haul and I don't know whether I'll be
up for that. "But if we can get sufficient partners
with us I'll feel reenergised to go forward." |
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