More Woe for OneWorld
October 18 - Auckland, New Zealand
To date, the Craig MacCaw-backed OneWorld America's Cup Challenge
from Seattle seems to have been star-crossed. First, MacCaw's
tech fortune - like a lot of others - took a nasty turn for the
worse, and he decided that he could no longer underwrite the
entire campaign. Fortunately, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen
stepped in with an infusion of $10 million. According to the
New York Times, Allen also bought an almost new monster
megayacht from one of the MacCaw brothers, although we're not
sure if it was the 350-ft Le Grand Bleu or the 300-ft
Tatoosh.
In any event, OneWorld picked up the pieces
and finally got both their training boats - the old America
True and the old Stars n Stripes - on the water for
training in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf the other day. But not
for one. Shortly after they started, the rig on Dawn Riley's
former America True came tumbling down, throwing some
of the crew overboard. Nobody was hurt. Peter Gilmour said it
was breezy on the course, but nothing unusual. The crew was fine
tuning the mast when it came down.
Failures on America's Cup boats are not
that rare. After Oracle Racing bought the AmericaOne boats from
Paul Cayard's syndicate, the keel fell off as they were training
in New Zealand. The boat and keel were remated, and we even went
sailing on her in Ventura.
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