OneWorld in cheating allegation

The OneWorld syndicate, headed by the communications billionaire Craig McCaw and Microsoft's co-founder Paul Allen, has been accused of cheating. If the allegations are correct, it faces disqualification from the America's Cup.

Its former operations manager Sean Reeves, whom OneWorld has successfully sued for breaking a confidentiality agreement, has given sworn affidavits in which he alleges that there have been 22 serious violations of the protocol for the America's Cup.

In 50 pages of affidavits, Reeves, a New Zealand lawyer who parted company with the OneWorld team in May 2001, alleges that the syndicate set out to copy or steal other teams' plans. "Acquisition or appropriation of other syndicates' design and technical information was not discouraged by many OWC designers and sailors but openly and freely encouraged," he states.

Reeves was rules adviser to Team New Zealand until March 2000, and thus has some inside knowledge of the America's Cup holders. He alleges that contrary to the protocol Laurie Davidson, the principal designer for TNZ recruited by OneWorld, delivered a design package on August 15 2000 containing eight complete lines plans for America's Cup-class yachts, receiving $1.5m (£1m) for his efforts, and that one of them was for the Team New Zealand yacht NZL-57.

Reeves recalls in his affidavit that he saw a member of OneWorld's design staff working with the drawing open on his desk and that this document had a copyright stamp from TNZ on the bottom margin. He states that other TNZ copyright documents were in OneWorld's possession and that from the outset Davidson said that he intended to include the lines of NZL-60, which he had drawn for TNZ, in his design package.

He claims that when OneWorld confessed some minor breaches of the protocol, for which it was penalised one win in the challenger selection series, it was sparing with the truth.

He alleges that the complete technology of the "millennium rig", the mast that TNZ used to great effect, was also made available to OneWorld illegally. TNZ had spent three years developing this rig, whereas OneWorld had one in a boat in three months. It was an exact copy, he states, right down to the mechanical fittings.

Reeves also lists information on sails, brought from the Prada campaign by the sail designer Michael Spanhake, as being outside the rules.

Reeves would have to testify to the arbitration panel for action to be taken against OneWorld, but he may find that the confidentiality agreement he signed with OneWorld, and for which he has already accrued a debt of $1.6m, is still binding.Though he was initially keen to reveal all, he has indicated that for legal reasons he may not after all be able to testify.