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America's Cup: Key personnel Posted: Wednesday September 25, 2002 1:46 PM
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- Biographies of key personnel within America's Cup challenger syndicates: Alinghi, Switzerland: Brad Butterworth, New Zealand, tactician. Butterworth, 43, is one of New Zealand's most experienced sailors, a veteran of the last four America's Cups and a winner in 1995 and 2000. He also won the around-the-world race in 1989-1990 with the late New Zealand sailor Sir Peter Blake. Butterworth followed skipper Russell Coutts from Team New Zealand, of which he was an integral member, to Alinghi in May 2000. He is known as a hard-nosed match racer with an unrivaled knowledge of weather conditions on the Hauraki Gulf. Le Defi, France: Philippe Presti, France, helmsman. Presti, 36, has been handed the helm of the French challenger Le Defi in a partnership with skipper and tactician Luc Pillot and navigator Philippe Mourniac. The physical education teacher from Arcachon, France has been twice world champion in the Finn class and a French Olympic representative in 1996 and 2000. He has been twice French match racing champion and is ranked 15th on current international standings. Mascalzone Latino, Italy: Paolo Cian, Italy, helmsman. Cian represented Italy in the Soling class at the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney and has a long history of successful international campaigning in dinghy classes. He has since made a considerable impact on the world match racing circuit. This is his first America's Cup. OneWorld, Seattle: James Spithill, Australia, helmsman. Spithill was the youngest man to skipper an America's Cup challenger when he helmed Young Australia in Auckland in 1999-2000, aged 20. He was catapulted into Cup racing by Australian Syd Fischer after winning the world youth match racing championship in 1999. Fischer said of Spithill: "he's a 20-year-old with a 40-year-old head." Since 2000 he has performed impressively on the world match racing circuit, winning the Trompino Trofio this year for the second time. Oracle, San Francisco: Ian Burns, Australia, navigator. Burns is a five-time America's Cup veteran and one of 10 Australians on the Oracle team. He is an expert navigator and yacht designer who brings an array of skills to the team from the Golden Gate Yacht Club. Burns sailed on the Australian Cup defender Kookaburra III in 1987, on Spirit of Australia in 1992 and on OneAustralia in 1995. He designed the Hawaiian Abracadabra boats in Auckland in 2000. He is an honors graduate from Sydney University who also serves the team in areas of performance comparison and electronics. Prada, Italy: Torben Grael, Brazil, tactician. Few sailors at this or any regatta can match the credentials of Brazil's Torben Grael. He is a triple Olympic medalist and a world champion on six occasions and in four classes. Grael, 42, won the gold medal in the Star class at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and bronze in the same class at Seoul in 1988 and Sydney in 2000. He has won world championships in the 12-meter class, in 1999, in One Tonners, in the Star class and in the Snipe class in 1978, 1983 and 1987. His experience with Prada in the 1999-2000 America's Cup was his first in this regatta. He is the founder of Project Grael which aims to team the children of needy Brazilian families to sail. Stars & Stripes, New York: Tom Whidden, United States, tactician. It's said when Dennis Conner decides to campaign for the America's Cup, the first man he calls is Tom Whidden. Whidden has been associated with Conner, mostly in a tactical role, in seven America's Cup campaigns since 1979 and has won the Cup three times. Whidden began sailing aged 10 at the Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, Connecticut. Victory Challenge, Sweden: Jesper Bank, Denmark, helmsman. Bank is a Danish sporting hero, a veteran of seven world championships, two European Championships and a winner two Olympic gold medals -- at Barcelona and Sydney -- and one bronze.
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