Subject: [NEXTEL-1] OneWorld may fall into one-and-done group

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 08:57:54 -0500

OneWorld may fall into one-and-done group

OneWorld. OneTry?

Alas, it might be true —
even with the cards
seemingly stacking up in
favor of a second
Seattle-based campaign
for yachting's greatest
prize.

With the Swiss boat Alinghi putting the
final coat of shellac on an unexpectedly
hapless New Zealand Cup defense effort
yesterday, the America's Cup is on its way
to Europe — the very place OneWorld
syndicate head Craig McCaw said he
would prefer to re-wet his feet in pursuit of
sailing's greatest prize.

The next Cup competition, in summer
2007, likely will be modernized and
revamped in many of the ways McCaw said
he would require before deciding on a second run.

And there's this: The newfound knowledge that OneWorld's USA-67, one of only
two boats to beat the juggernaut Alinghi squad in the regatta, may well have
given the claptrap Kiwi boats a run for the money, if not beaten them outright.

But unless another Uncle Paul Allen benefactor comes along, don't expect to
see the blue boats flying the Seattle Yacht Club burgee in '07.

"I'd give it a very slim chance that we'll be a sponsor again, as OneWorld —
under the same ownership," OneWorld spokesman Bob Ratliffe says. "I don't
think it was a bad experience for Craig or Paul. Of course, winning would have
made it a lot better."

It's not like the Cup's new power brokers don't want the Seattle group back.
Larry Ellison's Bay-Area Oracle camp has made great show of the fact that it's
been selected by Alinghi as the "challenger of record" for the next Cup — the
syndicate representing all challengers in negotiations over rules and formats for
the next contest. But it apparently wasn't Alinghi's first choice.

The role also was offered up to OneWorld's McCaw, who was in Auckland last
week for the Cup finals. He said no thanks, Ratliffe reports — because he has
yet to commit to a second attempt.

"Craig is weighing all the options," but a carbon-copy OneWorld Challenge isn't
likely without the addition of another major sponsor, Ratliffe suggested. Allen,
McCaw's 50-50 partner this time out, isn't expected to be interested in a second
try.

Hard to blame him. He never got fully engaged in the campaign. And when he
did set foot in Auckland, he saw his boys spanked 4-0 by the USA-76 boat
owned by Ellison, a man who Allen, by all accounts, considers to be about as
much fun as flesh-eating bacteria.

There's a sense that if OneWorld can't continue, its owners would love to give a
head start to another U.S.-based effort capable of scuttling the good ship Larry.

"Craig feels very strongly that he wants there to be a strong American team in
the next Cup — hopefully in addition to Larry Ellison," Ratliffe said. "He would
like to be part of that, or at least have the (OneWorld) assets be part of that."

One option would be to sell the syndicate to another challenger, but maintain a
partial ownership role. Another would be to sell the whole thing and say, "Well,
that was an experience," Ratliffe said.

Either way, McCaw is likely to weigh the options a bit longer.

The large number of challengers expected for the next Cup will put training boats
such as OneWorld's USA-65 and USA-67 at a high premium. Their value is only
likely to increase as time goes on.

On the other hand, OneWorld's crew, including skipper Peter Gilmour and highly
touted helmsman James Spithill, both of Australia, is under contract only until
the end of March. So there's some pressure for McCaw to make a decision one
way or the other by then.

But a Euro-Cup campaign might not be as attractive to McCaw as expected.
Learning that the Kiwis were ripe for defeat this time around cuts both ways:
McCaw may now look at OneWorld's third-place finish as an ever increasing
opportunity lost. Nobody expects Alinghi to mount a defense as poorly
conceived, financed or executed as the New Zealand effort, which will go down
as one of the most inept in Cup history.

Money remains tight, and the challenger of record will be Ellison, who already
has vowed to spend whatever's necessary to return America's Cup to America.

Given all that, it's probably selfish of Seattle's sailing faithful, which found itself
downright silly with enthusiasm for the enviro-themed OneWorld campaign, to
ask McCaw to spend $100 million to bring the Cup to Seattle. Or, failing that, at
least keep Ellison's sticky fingers off of it.

That doesn't mean they should pass at any chance to remind him of the lesson
of Alinghi's Brad Butterworth and Russell Coutts, who responded to ringing Kiwi
cries of "traitor!" by skunking their own ill-prepared countryman in the Cup finals:

Revenge on the water is especially sweet.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/134644586_judd03.html
--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Make Money Online Auctions! Make $500.00 or We Will Give You Thirty Dollars for Trying!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/yMx78A/fNtFAA/46VHAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/