Team members, family and friends may find of interest the story posted this evening over on the Challenger Commission Blog updating the tempest in a teapot (or, make that, a Victorian ewer) that has come to be known as "Silvergate." There is also a "world exclusive" photo of the surprisingly large piece of the original Cup that reportedly has now been returned to SNG by the Spirit of Adventure Trust.

There is a brewing controversy, and we don't mean about our official beer supplier Bitburger or any other brewer for that matter.

Check the excellent CupInfo website for links to recent articles worldwide about "Silvergate" -- the selling, literally, of Cup bits -- since the original story appeared in the Boston Globe last Friday.

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.

Full story

Next week's Forbes magazine will be appearing on newstands shortly with a cover story on Oracle Corp and Larry Ellison. The penultimate paragraph:

Ellison, for his part, will just keep on sailing--solo, when it comes to the succession question. Back in 1998, when he sailed his yacht, the Sayonara, in his first America's Cup, he and his crew endured 630 miles through rough seas and hurricane-force winds off Australia. Ellison was lucky to come out alive; five boats sank and six sailors died. Next April he will be on the high seas again.

One has to wonder about the accuracy, indeed validity, of the entire article when the author, editor and fact checkers get it so wrong -- confusing the America's Cup with the Sydney-Hobart.

Perhaps Forbes should stick to ranking celebrities, and leave the serious business reporting to the likes of the Wall Street Journal, the Economist and Fortune magazine.

One impressive factoid we read elsewhere that Forbes apparently did get right: "Oracle is now neck and neck with Microsoft in profitability, with an operating (Ebitda, that is) margin of 42% in its last fiscal year (versus 43% at Microsoft)."


Forbes magazine: winner
of the BOB's first-ever, and
sure to be highly coveted,
Bonehead Award.