Accepting blame

Team NZ board resigns after America's Cup defeat

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- The directors who presided over Team New Zealand's humiliating America's Cup loss to Alinghi in March have resigned.

Ralph Norris, Peter Menzies, New York-based Kevin Roberts and John Risley have accepted responsibility for the managerial failings which resulted in New Zealand's 5-0 defeat by the first-time challenge from Switzerland.

In April, the group of directors released a damning report into the conduct of the 2003 Cup defense which highlighted management and other deficiencies.

They promised at that time to review their own roles in the loss of the Cup, the 152-year-old trophy which New Zealand had held since 1995.

Norris said the directors accepted responsibility for one of the worst defenses in the Cup's long history.

New Zealand's state-of-the-art racing yacht, NZL-82, finished only three of its five races, almost sank on its first outing and broke its mast in a series of spectacular public failures.

"We haven't been pushed. We made the decision to go ourselves," Norris said in a Sunday newspaper report. "We've held ourselves accountable and that's great. Too often people don't hold themselves accountable."

Norris said the board's main mistake had been to wait too long to launch New Zealand's 2003 generation Cup yachts, NZL-81 and 82. Board members feared rivals would copy New Zealand's technology if the yachts were launched too soon.

"Unfortunately, I believe that was the wrong call," Norris said.

The four resigning directors are among New Zealand's most prominent businessmen.

Norris is the chief executive off Air New Zealand and Menzies the head of one of New Zealand's largest construction firms.

Team New Zealand head Grant Dalton expressed sympathy for the departing board members.

"They inherited the team in a tough situation," said Dalton. "They took the hard decision of releasing the report into what went wrong with the defense ... they decided their watch was over."

Two new directors, lawyer Jim Farmer and businessmen Gary Paykel, have been appointed to the board. Two further appointments, including one of a European-based board member, will be announced shortly.

The next America's Cup defense will be held in 2007 at a European venue which has yet to be chosen.

 

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