Secrets For Sail
Sun Herald
Sunday February 12, 1995
EVERY morning, before the crew of oneAustralia guide their sleek, $5.36 million racing yacht out of their compound on San Diego's Mission Bay, a skin diver slips under the water for a thorough examination of the boat's hull.
He's not only checking for any damage or unwanted marine growth. One of his prime objectives is to make sure the protective skirting around the top-secret keel has not been tampered with overnight.
On the street side of the compound, a high-tech electronic security system conducts 24-hour surveillance and a burly Australian security officer makes it his job to know about all visitors.
Welcome to the 1995 America's Cup, a curious combination of international sporting competition and high-level international intrigue.
It's a sport whose image of rich gentlemen sitting in mahogany-lined clubs is matched by cloak-and-dagger plots that would do James Bond proud.
This year, tough new anti-spying laws have been introduced but as the multi-million dollar competition among seven foreign challengers and three American syndicates begins to heat up, allegations of spying are still strong.
OneAustralia skipper John Bertrand told The Sun-Herald he believed the new laws had not stopped the high-tech snooping. Veteran cup helmsman Rod Davis and acclaimed New Zealand designer Bruce Farr agreed.
The new laws are specifically designed to counter electronic eavesdropping, satellite monitoring, aircraft and submarine observation and the type of underwater photography which led to opposition syndicates getting pictures of Australia II's winged keel in 1983.
Asked if the spying still goes on, the 48-year-old, five-cup veteran Bertrand said: "I suspect so. One has to be careful and that's the reason for the security. It needs to be protected like the launch of any new industrial product." There have so far been no official complaints of spying as the competition prepares to enter its third series of round robin races but on the last day of round two sailing, New Zealander Chris Dickson protested the Japanese Nippon team over a close-flying helicopter.
Dickson's team, oneAustralia, Nippon and the as yet undefeated Team New Zealand are the front-runners for the final from May 6 against the eventual American defender.
Sydney 95, skippered by Syd Fischer, has performed poorly.
Bertrand, who skippered Australia II to Australia's first ever America's Cup, has based his $47.6 million 1995 campaign on the type of organisation run by formula one motor racing teams.
His team shipped 10,000 tons of gear from Southport in Queensland to San Diego and is considered one of the most professionally run of the cup syndicates.
OneAustralia is the only challenger team to have set up its own souvenir shop and Megan Bourke, the wife of tactician Glenn Bourke, said that business had been brisk.
"The people of San Diego have been really interested," she said. "There has been a big lead-up and they're expecting us to do it again." It, of course, is a showdown with American arch-rival Dennis Conner, whose Stars and Stripes is in the midst of tough defender competition.
STARS AND SPITE: Page 60
© 1995 Sun Herald
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