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Reeves points finger at OneWorld
AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Former OneWorld Challenge operations manager Sean Reeves has stuck by his allegations that the syndicate stole design information from two other teams. Reeves was appearing before a specially convened five-man America's Cup Arbitration Panel in Auckland. The panel is deciding the fate of OneWorld with the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals due to start on Monday. It adjourned on Sunday after two days. Seattle-based OneWorld is accused of stealing design secrets from America's Cup holder Team New Zealand and Italian team Prada, who have joined with New York-based Team Dennis Conner in an effort to get OneWorld disqualified from the competition. Reeves is at the centre of the case brought by Prada and Team Dennis Conner, alleging multiple breaches of the America's Cup Protocol. Testifying under oath, Reeves took the stand for four hours on Saturday, as OneWorld's American attorney Hal Baetz cross-examined him about his 50-page affadavit and claims that he had approached other syndicates to sell design information. Reeves challenged the sworn affidavits of Bill Trenkle from Team Dennis Conner, David Barnes from GBR Challenge and Chris Dickson from Oracle BMW Racing who all said they had been approached by Reeves after he left OneWorld. Baetz asked Reeves: "Are you calling these people liars?" Reeves replied: "Some of these people are my personal friends, but to answer your question, they are liars, Mr. Baetz." He later added: "I don't care if there are 1,000 affidavits. I stand by my testimony." The hearing opened with the panel chairman, Australian judge Michael Foster, noting the enormous amount of written material that had been presented. In the course of a normal court case, a matter of this complexity and volume would take 10 days to resolve, he said. But in this instance the panel had just two days set aside. Jim Farmer QC made a 45-minute presentation of the Prada-Team Dennis Conner case against OneWorld, much of which related to Reeves' affidavit. Reeves was a rules adviser to Team New Zealand in 1995 and 2000 and became operations manager of OneWorld, recruiting key TNZ crew and designers to the team. Also appearing for OneWorld was New Zealand lawyer Iain Thain, who said Reeves had progressively changed his story over time. The panel also heard from OneWorld mast designer Scott Vogel, the author of a widely-circulated e-mail that suggested the Seattle team should consider the wisdom under the protocol of copying Team New Zealand mast fittings. Speaking in a quiet voice and frequently called on to repeat his testimony, Vogel said his e-mail constituted a warning that Protocol breaches were possible. OneWorld is due to race Prada and Swiss team Alinghi takes on U.S. team Oracle BMW Racing in the best-of-seven semifinals. The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup next year.
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