America's Cup - ACEA spills beans on Kiwi daggerboards

by Bernie Wilson, Assoc. Press on 1 Apr 2017 Skullduggery and spying are alive and well in the America's Cup, and so too apparently is a nasty feud between Emirates Team New Zealand and the regatta's organizing authority.

In a statement explaining changes to the rules governing the extremely technical daggerboards that help propel the new generation of wing-sailed, foiling catamarans, the America's Cup Event Authority took the highly unusual step of informing the world that Team New Zealand damaged two of its daggerboards shortly after it began testing its new boat in Auckland last month.

The statement gives the options for how the Kiwis can repair or replace the daggerboards while pointing out that teams can't correct a design or construction flaw in repairing damaged daggerboards.

Russell Coutts, a New Zealander who is both CEO of the event authority and of two-time defending America's Cup champion Oracle Team USA, posted the statement on his Facebook page. Coutts has been at odds with Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton in recent years, and the Kiwis are believed to have won a case against ACEA before a secret arbitration panel that could result in a multimillion dollar award.

The ACEA statement late Wednesday came a few days after Coutts used his Facebook page to respond to criticism in the New Zealand Herald about Oracle Team USA breaking with tradition and being allowed to compete in the challenger trials even though its spot in the America's Cup match is guaranteed by virtue of being the defender.

Coutts is a five-time America's Cup winner. The first two were as skipper of Team New Zealand, the third as skipper of Alinghi of Switzerland and the last two as Oracle Team USA's CEO, a non-sailing role.

So how would ACEA know about the Kiwis' damaged daggerboards?

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