The story below, by longtime Cup journalist Tony Chamberlain (Boston, USA) appeared in yesterday's Boston Globe. If true, and we have no reason to doubt it, this is a disappointing development for the America's Cup (and not just the trophy) on several fronts. Some of those involved would appear to richly deserve, at a minimum, the BOB's coveted "Bonehead Award."


Swiss fume over possible auction of remnants of Cup
By Tony Chamberlain, Globe Staff | October 13, 2006

The Swiss holders of the America's Cup, Alinghi, are said to be fuming over a plan in New Zealand to hold a fund-raising auction that would sell silver remnants of the original trophy, first presented in 1851 and symbolizing supremacy in international yacht racing.

According to letters between Grant Dalton, Team New Zealand's managing director, David Charlesworth, commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, and Stephen Fisher, chairman of the charitable trust Spirit of Adventure, the plan would raise money for a sailing event aimed at New Zealand youth.

But the Swiss, who won the America's Cup by beating New Zealand in 2003, claim the silver remnants of the Cup, with their historic import, do not belong to New Zealand, which capture the Cup in California in 1995 and succesfully defended it in 2000 , and cannot be auctioned off for any reason.

In 1997, the America's Cup -- first won by the schooner America in 1851 and on display in Auckland -- was badly damaged by a sledgehammer-wielding activist protesting the plight of Aboriginal people in New Zealand. The nickel-silver chalice was then sent to Garrards jewelers of London for reconstruction.

During the work, some of the panels bearing the names of winners and course descriptions had to be reproduced, and the originals remained at Garrards. Last spring, they surfaced in New Zealand.

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