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CYA and without it we wouldn’t enjoy the leet we have
today.”
hen in 1996 came Ross’ entry in the America’s Cup.
he New York Yacht Club’s Young America campaign
approached Bell Gully to provide legal services for its
2000 AC Challenge. With Farr Yacht Design and many
other experts on the team, Young America was regarded
as one of the top challengers.
Due to his yachting background, Ross headed up the
Bell Gully team. One of his irst jobs was to buy Chris
Dickson’s Tag Heuer NZL 39 as a trial horse. Young
America had to defend itself against many protests, and
Ross was soon heavily involved. “he pressure inside an
AC campaign is immense, there’s millions at stake.”But after Young America’s USA53, helmed by Ed Baird,
nearly sank, the crew lost conidence and were eliminated
from the Louis Vuitton Cup before the semi-inals.
Ross watched from the sidelines as a dominant TNZ
demolished Prada ive-nil.
From the outside TNZ looked tight, but all was not
well within. he late Sir Peter Blake had already left TNZ
to campaign environmental issues, then, within months
Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth also left to form
Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi campaign. Bertarelli wasn’t
the irst to employ ex-TNZ people, but he ended up with
the best.
Shortly afterwards Ross was invited to act for
Alinghi, which he really enjoyed. “It was a fantastic
team to work for, everybody was a world-class expert
in their ield. Russell is a consummate leader and has
a laser-like focus, which he unfailingly maintains for
years at a time.”
While many New Zealanders were quick to criticise
those leaving in 2000, Ross believes there was a
misjudgement in valuing hard assets such as yachts and
equipment over the people who created and sailed them.
Unquestionably, a fundamental error was not having
key personnel contracted past the 2000 AC, leaving
those with mortgages and other inancial commitments
vulnerable to ofers by wealthy syndicates.
“The AC can be won and lost over early hiring
decisions; like all sport, it’s a people game” says
Ross. He understands and empathises with their
position at that time.crossword
Puzzle no.249
Across
- _____’s Register – international shipping database
(5) - Outer resin surface of fibreglass boat (3,4)
- Small confined sea channels through straits (7)
- _____deck – deck behind ship’s bridge towards
stern (5) - Sails across wind in order to change course (5)
- Japanese dish of thinly sliced raw fish (7)
- Broad flat marine fishes with large wing-like
fins (4) - Treenails are wooden ____ used to fasten
timbers in shipbuilding (4) - Bails water out of boat (7)
- Sudden unsteady roll of boat in sea (5)
- _____-Visby Rules – set of rules for international
carriage of cargo by sea (5) - VHF _____ – parts of marine radio equipment (7)
- Uses rod and line to land fish (5,2)
- Rides sea waves towards shore (5)
Down
- LOA - _____ overall – measurement of
vessel (6) - Essential for dinghy! (3)
- _____ anchor – moors boat at sea (5)
- Sudden strong wind blasts that can make
sailing tricky (5) - Puts cargo on board vessel (5,2)
- Float or secondary hull fixed parallel to
side of boat to give stability (9) - Description of sea that is murky rather
than clear (6) - Bottle of this is traditionally broken over
bow of new vessel as it is launched (9) - These stop fishing lines from tangling (7)
- Type of dinghy in photo (6)
- _____ of moon aect tides (6)
- Mass of eggs deposited by fish (5)
- Artificial baits used in angling (5)
- You get plenty of fresh ___ when
sailing (3)
CW S B P M B
OPERA T E AFOUL
M TTLUNU
PRAHU ABALONE
E RY H
TEP I D BRUCE
E OA A L A
SPRAY CAL LS
TFKT
KAHAWA I WA S T E
N OAOAKR
OI LER RUSSEL L
T EPDHGY© Pam Hutton 2018http://www.puzzlebeetle.co.nz12345678910 11 1213 14 1516 17
18 19 2021 22 2324 25BY PAM HUTTONPuzzle no.248
Mystery photo: Kahawai