Kiwis May Take Wind Out of Blue Arrow Sails by Barring It From America’s Cup : British Challenge Up in the Air

The British are coming to sail in the 1988 America’s Cup yacht race, but the Kiwis may sink their chance to do so.

“That’s up in the air,” said Tom Mitchell, vice president of media relations for the Sail America Foundation. “It’s up to New Zealand to decide if they can compete. We’ve already agreed to it. They can come to town and get ready to sail, but if New Zealand says ‘no,’ they won’t sail. And they have been saying ‘no’ for the last six weeks.”

Mitchell said Michael Fay, captain of New Zealand’s America’s Cup team, at first agreed to allow the Blue Arrow to race in an elimination series, but quickly changed his mind.

“I think he found out that it’s a fast boat,” Mitchell said of the 90-foot British single-hull boat, which has a pair of high-tech outriggers equipped with hydrofoils.

Still Negotiating

A spokesman for sponsors of the Blue Arrow, the yacht Great Britain hopes to pit against the Stars & Stripes and New Zealand in the September run for the Cup, said negotiations are still under way with the Kiwis’ captain.

“They have been talking, but I don’t know the state of negotiations with Michael Fay,” said Henning Nielsen, a New York-based spokesman for the British yacht club. “They have been talking for some time.”

Nielsen said that, even if New Zealand turns down England’s Royal Burnham Yacht Club, which has offered the Blue Arrow Challenge, the 80-man team and its vessel will still be on hand for the race.

“They have decided to go to San Diego for the experience,” he said. “The Blue Arrow has a commitment to the America’s Cup race. I don’t know if they will be able to race or even line up at the starting line, but they do hope to compete.”

Nielsen said the Blue Arrow will be shipped to San Diego on Aug. 9, but he didn’t know how much that will cost.

Sponsors of the British yacht club must gain permission from the foundation and Fay because of a court order that limited the race to the two competitors unless both agree to allow other challengers.

Hopes to Be a Threat

Nielsen said Britain, which has never shown much of a commitment to the contest, has resolved to pose a bigger threat to the United States and New Zealand, the fiercest competitors in the race.

“They’ll be training for the 1991 race,” Nielsen said. “They plan to be a part of the challenge long-term.”

Nielsen said the effort the British club has put into the Blue Arrow Challenge is proof of its determination to win. In less than a year, the club has tested 15 giant models of a 90-foot boat and has built two boats for research and development in its construction facilities in Falmouth, England.

It has also assembled a crew that it believes is stronger than those of the past. This one will be led by Peter de Savary and includes Derek Clark, who had previously worked on the crew of the Australian yacht, Kookaburra.

The Royal Burnham Club has competed for the America’s Cup before but has never won. But members of the 93-year-old club have won other races, including the Lionheart and the Crusader challenges in England.

“Now they want to win the America’s Cup,” Nielsen said. “I can’t speculate on what their chances are, but I know that they are very committed and are an excellent team.”