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$BIG
$DOUGH$ The
America’s Cup is obviously an intriguing game, made even more so
by the recent invasion of the Big Money Playas. You know who I’m
talking about - guys like
Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison -
with way too much money, spending it in obscene amounts in order
to buy up all the best resources. Frankly, it all seems a bit ridiculous. I mean, how much of an a-hole did Bill Koch look like after
‘his’ win in ’92? Shouldn’t the headline have read
“Spoiled Rich Guy with Huge Ego Buys Cup”?
And let’s not forget his all “Women” effort in ’95
when he removed any lingering doubt about what a complete dumb-ass he
was by replacing the female tactician with a he. And it is of course poetic
irony and sweet justice that saw said male totally blow a huge lead in
the final race against Cayard driving DC’s boat to lose the right
to defend the cup! It remains
to be seen if any of the New Swingers can match the buffoonery generated
by Koch, but based on what we hear so far, the odds are good that these
Money Bags will trip all over themselves to see who can look like the
biggest idiot. This alone might be reason enough to follow the proceedings. Since
we are now hearing about $100 million America’s Cup budgets –
can you imagine such a ridiculous thing? -
We thought it was a good time to find out what the people who sail
these monsters actually get paid.
One of the most annoying facets of Big Time sailing is that nobody
will admit what people are making, either in salary or from sponsor money. We hear, for example, that for every sponsor dollar given to
Team Dennis Conner, ol’ DC himself keeps somewhere around 20%. So,
let’s say you’re the owner of F.U. Software, and your slimeball
Marketing Director convinces you that spending advertising dollars in
the form of sponsorship in the America’s Cup would be a good idea.
Since the only name you know in sailing is Dennis Conner, you decide that
a big F.U. Software logo on the mainsail (that’s not a cheater main,
is it?) would look good. And let’s say that spot on the main is going
to cost you $2 million, remember that ol’ DC will personally pocket
a cool $400,000! Perhaps
that’s why ol’ DC gets real testy when anybody dare ask how
much he makes. Okay,
so we know that the fat cats at he top make the big dough. But what about
everybody else? Well, despite the fact that a few of you think that we
here at Sailing Anarchy are bitter a-holes, we have a few friends left
who still need to be convinced. One of them is our very own AC Deep Throat,
and he helps us break it down for y’all. To start with its necessary to break down the crew between A & B teams and then again between mechanical and "brain trust" positions aboard. Mechanical would be mast for ward and the rest afterguard with some crossover with trimmers. There's lots of other folks involved from shore crew to attorneys and their compensation is more reflective of what they could fetch in the marketplace for their skills generally. In 1983
crew were paid nothing to sail in the AC and the most they could hope
for was air transportation and sometimes a place to stay while out of
town training. In fact we know of a negotiation that took place in 1998
where one of those 1983 crew members who sailed for free was astounded
that a grinder who was being offered $80k per year by AmericaOne, balked
at the offer. The crew from 1983 commented that a lot sure had changed
since then! In the most recent America’s Cup, crew compensation depended upon who you worked for. For example America True's Dawn Riley paid her grinders trimmers and bowman about US$30-35K per year with a few perq's. DC wasn't much better with each crew getting about US$40-45K but with better benefits given the plethora of in-kind sponsorship he managed to arrange. Young America paid a bit more but they had better perq's and support - at the same time they were an early out and the pay ended at the end of Dec 99 once the team was eliminated from the LVS. The A-One guys received on average a rate of US$75K but their contracts provided that they received this pay only when actively sailing or working for the team which actually cut the pay by a third. Also, pay to a crewman was reduced by what they were able to earn elsewhere in pick-up work and a few guys had agreements that reduced their pay by about 1/2 during non-sailing time. All of these agreements provided that a crew could be terminated without cause at any time following which the only remaining pay would be a month or two of severance. In AC-30 Prada paid their non-afterguard crew at the rate of US$140K, full perquisites including personal and family air transportation, lodging, meals and bonuses if the team made it to the LV semi, finals and AC match. Those bonuses doubled the total compensation earned by these crewmen. The skipper received approximately US$750K for the cup, the tactician US$500K and various others in sailing roles in the range of US$350K. The B team for Prada which consistently beat the A team and was composed of mostly whiteboys, received on average US$120K per year with the exception of Rod Davis who received significantly more. The TNZ guys last time received the equivalent of $US35-45K per year and brought their lunches to work. They received virtually no perq's and lived at home. The afterguard received about US$250K plus under the table compensation and participation in other deals that sponsors arranged. The TNZ lawyer received NZ$8K per month (about US$44K annual salary at the time) for his work. The TNZ syndicate head received US$500K per year in compensation, a car, and participation in licensing deals of the ACup marks. The NZ Trust Ltd., the overseer of the defense and its trustees, received several million US a piece during the cup from sponsors and from pawning license rights and selling team assets; even after all of this they took loans from sponsors due to cash flow shortfalls they claimed existed (because they had sucked the team coffers dry) in order to purchase a new mainsail they claimed to otherwise be unable to afford. This time around the annual numbers are a lot higher for journeymen crew across the board:
(*** Note that OWC has threatened to fold unless its crew and all other personnel release McCaw and the syndicate from all commitments claims and contracts, accept an across the board discount of 15% of their unpaid compensation and allow the syndicate to terminate in its complete discretion at any time and without liability for the released claims and contracts. The team leaders have received sizeable up-front payment of their compensation or have security or other guarantees of payment that would be unaffected by this development which will minimize the potential loss to them if these arrangements are ultimately adopted and the syndicate folds this Fall as expected.) I think an important aspect to consider is the "guaranteed" element of the comp arrangement since without that guarantee of the full tilt its all a wank. Well, how ya like them apples? If anybody tells you they aren’t making any money in the AC, tell ‘em SailingAnarchy says they’re full of shit.
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