Sail-World.com Mid-Week NZ News -- 13 Jun 2007

Welcome to the mid-week edition of Sail-World.Com's NZ newsletter

Major Events: New Zealand Sailing / 2007 America's Cup / 2008 Takapuna World Championships

Editorial: Keep the eye on the ball

Racing has resumed overnight in the RS:X Europeans in Cyprus. It was not a good day for the two New Zealand sailors, with Barbara Kendall being Black Flagged at the start, and Jon-Paul Tobin finishing in 20th place.

Both were able to discard these placings however Kendall has slipped back to fourth overall, while Tobin is now seventh. So far both have had a good regatta and will pull back from here.

On the America's Cup scene, it's handbags at ten paces between Grant Dalton and Ernesto Bertarelli over reported comments that Emirates Team NZ would like to see a revised nationality requirement in the next America's Cup Protocol.

The issue arose from a few words in the context of a longish interview screened on TVNZ, when Dalton had stepped out of the Louis Vuitton Cup celebration party at 10pm Valencia time. He was a very happy boy at the time, and certainly wasn't working off speech notes.

The comments have been fanned by others keen for some controversy to fill the two week gap before the start of the 32nd America's Cup.

While the item of nationality has been on the agenda for Team NZ, for a number of years, it is but one issue for the next America's Cup. And, it is largely up to the next holder of the America's Cup to set the rules for the 33rd Match, by accepting a challenge that is aligned with the terms on which they are prepared to defend the trophy.

Bertarelli claims Kiwi fans are giving some of his crew a hard time. Yeah Right!

Shore based controversies are no stranger to this stage of the America's Cup, and it is always interesting to see how the lead players feed off a minor comment by an opposing party, and turn it into a more major issue.

At this stage of the Cup, a better strategy is to play the ball, not the man.

Good Sailing!

Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor

ENDS

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