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Communications system allowed
Posted: Tuesday February 22, 2000 08:36 PM
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- An international sailing jury on Wednesday cleared America's Cup defender Team New Zealand to continue using its revolutionary onboard communications system. Italian challenger Prada, which trails 2-0 in the best-of-nine series, sought clarification on the Kiwi system because competing teams are prohibited from using equipment which picks up signals from off the boat. Condition 19.1 of the match racing rules ban the possibility of assistance to yachts by means of outside communication. In the opening two races, Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts was able to communicate, via a microphone, to crew members wearing an earpiece. A circuit beneath the deck relays the audio instructions. The International jury inspected the earpieces Tuesday and issued an interim finding saying they were legal. Team New Zealand then asked for a formal ruling. Team New Zealand bowman Dean Phipps said the earpieces, which are used by bowman and trimmers, allowed crew to hear Coutts over the noise of helicopters hovering over the race boats. Coutts said he wouldn't be using the equipment if he didn't think it was legal, or if it didn't help his team. "Usually the bowman has to use hand signals -- this way we can have two-way communication," he said. Trimmer Simon Daubney said Team New Zealand had been using the communications technology for six months and predicted every America's Cup challenger would adopt similar systems in future.
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