The US Federal Court Rules has surprisingly brought the so-called "Reevesgate" scandal to a provisional end before the start of the America's Cup. It sentenced Sean Reeves, who worked for America's Cup Team OneWorld as a lawyer, rules consultant and in syndicate management, to pay between 240,000 and 314,000 dollars in damages.
In addition, there are court costs totalling 500,000 dollars. The New Zealander was found guilty of breaching the non-disclosure agreement provided for in his contract with OneWorld.
The case was originally not due to be heard until April 2003, but Judge Barbara Rothstein no longer considered it necessary to hear witnesses in view of the evidence and the ongoing damage to OneWorld.
OneWorld also sees its designer Laurie Davidson cleared by the decision. The former Team NewZealand designer had been accused by Reeves of taking the plans of the 2000 winning boat and designing the new OneWorld boat based on them. But the sworn testimony of an expert named by Reeves revealed that the OneWorld design package, which Reeves is said to have stolen after his sacking, bears no resemblance to the New Zealand winning yacht of 2000.
In its next issue (21/02), YACHT will go into detail about the espionage stories in Auckland
