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Team NZ set to miss out on U.S. sailor Kostecki

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton said Thursday he is no longer confident of signing American yachtsman John Kostecki to a key role in a 2007 America's Cup campaign.

Dalton held contract talks in New Zealand and the United States with Kostecki, whose successes include an Olympic silver medal, victory in the Volvo Round the World Race, a world soling championship and two America's Cup campaigns with American syndicates.

He had been initially hopeful of making Kostecki one of the leading members of New Zealand's sailing team. But Dalton said Thursday he had little hope of topping bids for the American's services from other, big-budget campaigns.

Kostecki is being pursued by Oracle, the San Francisco syndicate of software magnate Larry Ellison, and that Team New Zealand was unlikely to be able to match their offer, Dalton said.

"I'm not confident of finalizing the deal with John," he told The Associated Press from Auckland.

"Everyone has options and John has obviously got a few. I'd say it's a 50-50 thing at the moment. Good guys like John are under offer from all over the place and he's probably got a variety of options to consider."

Dalton recently made two key appointments to the Team New Zealand staff as he continues work to make another Kiwi Cup campaign viable.

Round the World sailor and America's Cup veteran Kevin Shoebridge has been named Operations Manager, a role co-ordinating most elements of day-to-day activity and reporting directly to Dalton. Englishman Andy Claughton was previously named design co-ordinator.

Dalton said Shoebridge would bring "an environment of structure" to the New Zealand syndicate. Past campaigns had developed a culture in which a large number of senior figures had some authority, leading to decision-making "by osmosis."

"At some time in the future we'll have more than 80 people running around here and they need to know what they're doing," said Dalton. "Much as I hate the sound of the term, the operation has to run like a Swiss watch."

New Zealand lost the America's Cup in March to the Swiss syndicate Alinghi, headed by former Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts. Alinghi was described after its 5-0 win as "a fine Swiss watch with a few Kiwi parts."

Dalton said his next priorities were the selection and signing of afterguard members: the senior sailors who make tactical decisions in races. He was also working on the appointment of a "name" designer to lead the process of designing New Zealand's next-generation Cup yacht.

Dalton is due to travel to Japan and the United States in the next month on a more urgent quest for major sponsorship to underwrite a four-year Cup campaign. He has given himself until March to prove the challenge's viability, to raise the projected 150 million New Zealand dollars (US$90 million) needed for a European Cup campaign.

Team New Zealand already has a commitment of 34 million dollars (US$20 million) from the New Zealand Government but that contribution is contingent on other, more substantial sponsorship being found.

Dalton said the Government contribution was not a handout but was made with very severe demands that Team New Zealand prove its viability.

"There's no way we're being given something for nothing," he said.

Dalton said all of Team New Zealand's operations were "running at full speed," unaffected by the resignation last week of the four-man board which presided over the Cup loss.

A study would shortly begin into the structural failures which allowed the New Zealand Cup yacht NZL-82 to finish only three of its five races against Alinghi.

The twin yachts NZL-81 and 82 would be retained as the initial trial boats for the next campaign. Dalton said he hoped to be able to race one of the yachts in a Cup leadup at Newport, Rhode Island next year.

 

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