The AC 37 has started, news and rumours

[Stingray~]

How is it supposed to “end up in court” now?

Good question and I do not know but there were rumors a while back that court in Auckland was a possible precursor to any action in NY. Maybe the business community in Auckland would be happy to apply that pressure? It seems to be a 'carrot and stick' approach they are taking toward GD. Will be interesting to see if in the next statement from MD he says he is done too. He may not be.

 

[Kate short for Bob]

I have no idea. But isn't TNZ a company with shareholders. So can declare a dividend? In the UK we can see basic accounts info. Can you do that in NZ?

Not for a private company i.e. one with a private shareholding.  You can check out all the public documents here:
https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/582931?backurl=H4sIAAAAAAAAAC3LMQ7CMBQD0Ntk6dATfCEmlg5IcAErsaBS8xPyf0Dl9EQVm209zxUP2hxLrtB1JCNafJ5ySRRzaEJLwfdKofrqg4SXOJEn5Wf6EtswAekNjUxXKDfx1hkOvt%2FH0%2BS8LP9%2Bc3i3Syu9HvMPBhnbwoAAAAA%3D

 

[Kate short for Bob]

As Sir James Farmer pointed out recently, there actually is a difference between what ETNZ needs versus what they may want. If the $80M was the need, then why not hold it in Auckland? Again?

So how do you measure the "need" in a design race?

 

[Stingray~]

Has anyone read this (subscription) article? 
 

 

[Kate short for Bob]

If you, as is perfectly natural to, 'follow the money' when it comes to what GD says is 'a business' then yes, 'just not enough' for his preference.. GD has been actively resisting any and all Auckland offers from the get-go, he probably thinks (as the holder of the Chalice) there are vastly greater riches to be made elsewhere out of it. 

You make the assumption that Dalts is driven firstly by maximising the profit from the "business" when in fact the primary objective of the business is to win.  Arguably ETNZ have never had what they wanted in terms of funding and subsequently have had to run an innovative but financially constrained approach.

 

[AKL wino]

Has anyone read this (subscription) article? 
 

View attachment 464307

A former director of Team New Zealand has raised questions about the governance of the syndicate, claiming chief executive Grant Dalton "is accountable to no one but himself".

Dr Jim Farmer, a leading Queen's Counsel, believes Team New Zealand's structure is outside the norms of good corporate governance. He has described Dalton as a "control freak".

Greg Horton, a senior corporate lawyer who sits on Team New Zealand's board said he was happy with its governance and processes and fired back at Farmer.
"Grant knows how to win, and takes no prisoners. He makes no apology for that, nor does the board. Winning counts," Horton said.

"Mr Farmer may have the view that Grant is unchecked and unconstrained by the Board, but that is simply not correct. Whether that was the case during Mr Farmer's tenure as a director, I cannot comment."
Dalton is both chief executive of the syndicate as well as acting chairman, a position he has held since Warehouse founder Sir Stephen Tindall resigned from the board in June.
Dalton is also one of only two trustees on the charitable trust that owns Team New Zealand. The other is Horton, a senior corporate lawyer who is battling motor neuron disease.

Further, he notes that the structure of the Trust and Team NZ have not changed since Mr Farmer's involvement, no moneys flow through the Trust, and there are more directors of Team NZ now than in Mr Farmer's day (or indeed on Greymouth Petroleum now)."

In the days leading up to Team New Zealand's announcement that it was postponing the announcement of the venue for the next America's Cup on September 17, the syndicate has been fending off advances from wealthy businessman Mark Dunphy.
Dalton responded by saying unless the team knew where the money was coming from it could not accept it "from a straight governance point of view".
In a post on his blog, Farmer, who spent almost a decade on the board of Team New Zealand from 2003 to 2014, said he was not sure the syndicate was in a position to raise questions about corporate governance.

"In conventional company law and governance terms, the CEO is accountable to the board, the board is accountable to the shareholders, '' Farmer wrote.
He told the Herald that these controls did not appear to be in place for Team New Zealand. "Basically, he [Dalton] is accountable to no one but himself."
Farmer said Dalton's position gave him powers such as to call board meetings, which in his experience, he did not seem to like to do.
"In my time, when I was on the board of Team New Zealand, he [Dalton] always had to be pushed to call board meetings. He didn't really like board meetings, as a concept."

Typically a chair was an important role separate to the chief executive, providing day-to-day checks.
"If you've got the same person being the chair and the CEO, well, you don't get that. They're consulting with themselves."
Dalton's role as one of only two trustees gave added control, as it was trustees who could vote out directors, but even if the other trustee disagreed with him,
"The fact is, you've got Grant as one of two trustees. If the other trustee thought that the board wasn't doing things properly, or the CEO wasn't doing properly, or say just Grant wasn't doing things properly, what can he do about it? Because he's got no majority position as one of two trustees, holding the shares," Farmer said.
"In the structure, there's no room for governance, at all."

In Farmer's view, this could be of concern to a Government or any other entity if it was to put money towards the next America's Cup event.
"If you're investing the money, not as a shareholder, not as a lender, but you're putting money into this entity for a particular purpose, you want to make sure it's actually spent on that purpose, in accordance with whatever guidelines that may be put down."
Dunphy alluded to similar concerns in letters to Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron earlier this month.

"It would have been preferable for independent parties to have been appointed as trustees when Sir Stephen Tindall retired as trustee of the Team New Zealand Charitable Trust," Dunphy wrote on September 16.
"Good governance principles require a clear separation between the governance of the Charitable Trust and the governance of Team New Zealand Limited. One expects this issue will be resolved through this process."

A governance adviser approached to discuss Team New Zealand's corporate structure said he did not believe it would provide the checks and accountabilities needed.
"It's hard to see how you could provide effective oversight and accountability. You've got a chief executive reporting to a board, that he leads, which in turn is accountable to a trust that he is trustee of," Richard Westlake, the managing director of Westlake Governance, told the Herald.
"The risk is you're not going to get the type of challenging and the testing of the thinking and decision-making that you need from a board."

This week Team New Zealand released the correspondence it has shared with Dunphy since the oilman made public his interest in supporting an Auckland campaign.
While the letters and emails quickly become tense (Dunphy having publicly stated Dalton needed to step down] an early email sees Dalton provide a polite account of the team's dynamics, revealing Team New Zealand's board discussed when Tindall resigned whether new board members were needed.
"The conclusion was that we act as a very cohesive unit, we all totally understand the Cup and we do not need anyone else, it worked and works just fine - 3 [Louis Vuitton Cup] wins and 2 [America's Cup] wins would indicate we are doing something right!"
In a statement, Team New Zealand director Greg Horton, who has been on the board for most of the period since 2014, defended the current governance.
"While I have the greatest respect for Jim Farmer QC as a fellow legal professional, he knows nothing about the governance arrangements at Team New Zealand, either currently or during the last two successful America's Cup campaigns."

During the 2017 Bermuda campaign and the successful defence of the America's Cup in March the campaigns were led by Tindall "with formal board meetings and very regular interactions between directors and management," Horton said.
"As we work towards another successful campaign, which is and will always be our focus, as directors we are all intimately involved on a daily basis. And I mean literally on a daily basis.
"As a director, I am satisfied with our governance and governance processes – both now and during the last two campaigns."

"Mr Farmer may wish to describe Grant as a control freak, and he may well be in some people's eyes, but I would point out that under his strong leadership and unwavering tenacity we have won the last two Americas Cups. Grant knows how to win, and takes no prisoners. He makes no apology for that, nor does the Board. Winning counts," Horton said.
Horton said Dunphy - like Dalton - was both chairman and chief executive of Greymouth Petroleum. "We make no apology for that, as presumably Mr Dunphy does not in his own private company."

Horton also described Dunphy as a "close associate" of Farmer. Team New Zealand had earlier said Farmer "represented" Dunphy, something Farmer denied.
While he represented Greymouth Petroleum in a case against Energy Minister Megan Woods in 2020, and acknowledged he speaks to the entrepreneur frequently, he was not representing him now.
"He doesn't want me to act for him so he doesn't have to pay me," Farmer said.
"I'm doing this solely as a yachtie, because I have my own racing yacht. As a member of the squadron, and as a former Team New Zealand director," Farmer said.

Dunphy's correspondence shows he consistently attempts to correspond with former Toyota New Zealand chairman Bob Field and Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron commodore Aaron Young.
In an interview with the Herald on September 17, Dunphy urged the RNZYS to take the lead on talks.
"We're all looking for the squadron to be a leader here. I don't just mean all of us in New Zealand, I think the international community, the international sailing community, is too. I don't doubt the New York Yacht Club as the original trustee of the cup is looking closely for a whole variety of reasons. They want to come down here, I understand, and compete."
In response, Dalton demanded that he alone be the named contact, adding Young had indicated he had no part in the negotiations. At one point, Field corrects Dunphy's description of him, pointing out that he is not, nor has he ever been, chairman of Team New Zealand.

Horton said the board of Team New Zealand had indicated the negotiations should be "between Grant and Mr Dunphy" adding that the letter had asked a series of simple questions, but had not received answers.
"Mr Dunphy's correspondence proposes considerably more government investment, which the government has said it will not do, so Mr Dunphy appears to be flogging the proverbial dead horse."

UPDATE: TNZ contacted the Herald after publication of this report to say Horton believed the reference to his motor neurone disease was "inappropriate". He advises he is "most disappointed" his health was brought into the debate. Horton further advised that he defacto acts as chairman, but due to his limited ability to speak through motor neurone disease he works principally by written word. He has not wished to be identified publicly as acting chair, due to those limitations, which is the reason why Dalton has been identified as such. Further, he notes that the structure of the Trust and Team NZ have not changed since Dr Farmer's involvement, no moneys flow through the Trust, and there are more directors of Team NZ now than when Farmer was a director.

 

[Kate short for Bob]

Besides all that, this thing could end up in court if he tries to take it offshore (local or maybe even in NYSC) and regardless the merits it would put a massive time-delay/fiasco into the whole show. Including into the supposed venue possibilities.

Did the Board Meeting not go very well Stingers?  Why would anyone waste millions in court to keep the event in Auckland?  Hell even the NYYC didn't want a bar of that!

 

[Kate short for Bob]

Maybe the business community in Auckland would be happy to apply that pressure?

FFS @Stingray~ the Auckland Business Community is in survival mode.  Central Auckland has been fucked over by the Council/CRL and the wider business community is being slaughtered by Covid-19 lockdowns.  Auckland is burning a $1b or more a week at the moment!  5 weeks in Level 4 lockdown and only 150,000 essential workers (mainly food and transport companies) could go to work!!

 

[Forourselves]

Good question and I do not know but there were rumors a while back that court in Auckland was a possible precursor to any action in NY. Maybe the business community in Auckland would be happy to apply that pressure? It seems to be a 'carrot and stick' approach they are taking toward GD. Will be interesting to see if in the next statement from MD he says he is done too. He may not be.

The “Business community” in Auckland doesn’t give a crap about the America’s Cup. They’ve got enough to worry about just trying to  break even. If you think they’d be at all interested in a court battle over a sailing trophy, you’re severely deluded. Dunphy is done. Finished. His non proposal is done. IF and it’s a big IF, it’s held in Auckland, it’ll be because Dalton pulled it off. Dunphy will disappear and fade back into obscurity where he came from and Ross will probably lose his membership with the RNZYS.

 

[Kate short for Bob]

It seems to be a 'carrot and stick' approach they are taking toward GD.

Who ARE they mysterious THEY?  So far we have only heard from Dunphy and latterly Ross although those two don't seem to be that connected.  I wouldn't be surprised in Dunphy is a lone wolf.  A clue could be his use of the term "Tamaki Makaurau" instead of Auckland.  Nearly everyone I know in Auckland find it grating and those outside of Auckland don't even know what if refers to.

 

[Stingray~]

^ Thanks! Interesting article

 

[Kate short for Bob]

"In conventional company law and governance terms, the CEO is accountable to the board, the board is accountable to the shareholders, '' Farmer wrote.
He told the Herald that these controls did not appear to be in place for Team New Zealand. "Basically, he [Dalton] is accountable to no one but himself."
Farmer said Dalton's position gave him powers such as to call board meetings, which in his experience, he did not seem to like to do.
"In my time, when I was on the board of Team New Zealand, he [Dalton] always had to be pushed to call board meetings. He didn't really like board meetings, as a concept."

Farmer is stirring the pot here for what reason I'm struggling to fathom.  What he describes as "conventional" isn't accurate nor is it accurate in Team New Zealand's case.

May be Farmer will be the next whose RNZYS membership will be put to the sword.

 

[dg_sailingfan]

Is there any way to keep this guy Stingray with his "Desperate Attempts to keep the Cup in Auckland" where there is no money off this Board?

It isn't funny anymore! There will be no Court Action because no one has the money to do it and doesn't want to do it.

Stingray is grasping at straws here all in self interest because he doesn't want to travel to the Middle East for whatever dumb reason.

 

[Kate short for Bob]

"I'm doing this solely as a yachtie, because I have my own racing yacht. As a member of the squadron, and as a former Team New Zealand director," Farmer said.

Farmer was bumped from ETNZ when he was appointed to the International Committee to hold an inquiry into the death of Andrew Simpson.  He has made it quite clear that he prefers a return to non-foiling mono-hulls of a standard design e.g. the Volvo 70's.  Which you must admit is not what the AC has EVER been about.  

He has been blogging for a while now promoting going down a different path.  Farmer seems to have an axe to grind and it would be fair to say that ETNZ's performance has improved in his absence.

 

[Forourselves]

There was a discussion a while back in one of these threads that questioned the validity of RYSL. Interesting, now that that very topic has become a subject of “that Email” 

 

[Kate short for Bob]

There was a discussion a while back in one of these threads that questioned the validity of RYSL. Interesting, now that that very topic has become a subject of “that Email” 

Who was the "other group" that got out manoeuvred in lodging a challenge to RNZYS?

If you join all the dots there is an old boys clique within the RNZYS behind Dunphy - Farmer, Ross, probably even Barker.  Every club has them.  Dalts would grate them even though he has money they would look down on him because of his street fighting touch of uncouth.   

 

[Kate short for Bob]

This is the boat Farmer races.

 

[Kate short for Bob]

https://georgia-racing.co.nz/home

 

[animeproblem]

Is there any way to keep this guy Stingray with his "Desperate Attempts to keep the Cup in Auckland" where there is no money off this Board?

It isn't funny anymore! There will be no Court Action because no one has the money to do it and doesn't want to do it.

Stingray is grasping at straws here all in self interest because he doesn't want to travel to the Middle East for whatever dumb reason.

Careful where you throw those stones A4idiot, the same ammo applies to you.

 

[Stingray~]

 Life is good