Fay defends Cup bid

Press, 23 July 1987, Page 48

Fay defends Cup bid

By

DIANNA LESLIE

Although the San Diego yacht club has dubbed the New Zealand challenge to contest the America’s Cup in boats with a 90ft waterline, next year as “ridiculous,” Michael Fay the chairman of the world 12metre challenge, has defended the challenge. “Some people are confused about why we are seeking a challenge in 1988, and why we have proposed doing so with a boat that is so big,” said Mr Fay. “The answer is simple — we want to win the America’s Cup.” The Sam Diego Yacht Club anticipated its first challenge in 1991 or 1992, but it has not been able to agree on the make-up of the committee to reach that decision. “The Deed of Gift which governs the America’s Cup competition clearly permits us to challenge in 1988,. and we have done so. We have not exploited an outdated loophole in the rules,” asserted Mr Fay. The New Zealand contingent was simply pro-

tecting itself when it nominated the largest yacht permitted by the deed, he said. “We could have stipulated a smaller yacht with a minimum 44ft waterline and the Americans could have turned up with a boat twice as big,” he said. An important factor in the tactical cat-and-mouse games involves the stipulation that the defender does not have to name its yacht or reveal dimensions until the start of racing. New Zealand did not want W , challenge with a 44ft boat and have the Ameri-: cans trump in with a larger : yacht, said Mr' Fay. > , Although,New Zealand has not had experience with such a large racing yacht, Mr Fay is confident that it can still win the challenge. “We are confident New Zealand has the designers, builders : and crews plus the ingenuity and resource to over-' come any lack of .< big boat tradition or experience,” he said.