America’s Cup: Billionaires and Espionage

“Yacht racing has been compared to tearing up $10 bills while standing in the shower. In the case of America’s Cup racing, make that $1,000 bills.” Time Magazine delves into the high rolling depths of international yachting with a feature on America’s Cup excess. Auckland is painted as a city awash with old and new money, the competition having snared such high-profile investors as Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, and shipping magnate, Vincenzo Onorato. The 2002 challenge opened with accusations that OneWorld stole three of the other teams’ design secrets. As the piece concludes, “dueling on the high seas would be nothing without an element of skullduggery.”