sosol - Volume 6 Issue 2

Roger Boshier
Adult Education Research Centre
University of British Columbia, B.C., Canada

During the 2002 Louis Vuitton and 2003 America’s Cup regattas, the author ran Schnack-Net - an email list-serve supporting Team New Zealand. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on what it meant for building diaspora networks that are part of New Zealand’s strategy for dealing with the brain drain. The study purposes are achieved by analysing America’s Cup broadcasting traditions and examining the Year 2000 defection crisis, learning and leadership inside Team New Zealand. Schnack-Net had a distinguished membership in New Zealand and overseas. Throughout the regatta, 60 missifs were dispatched. Although Alinghi captured the Cup, the Schnack-Net process and task of defending the Cup exposed contradictions concerning the future of New Zealand society. Schnack-Net was a low cost and effective instrument for fostering learning, dialogue and exploring tensions triggered by the crisis in Team New Zealand and subsequent loss of the America’s Cup.

1.1 From the start of the Louis Vuitton regatta in October, 2002 until after the America’s Cup in March, 2003, the author ran an email list-serve in support of Team New Zealand. Schnack-Net was named for University of British Columbia graduate and Team New Zealand leader Tom Schnackenberg. It demonstrated how electronic networking - an instrument of globalisation – can be used for localisation and, in this case, loyalty.

1.2 The membership of Schnack-Net included elite America’s Cup sailors, educational, political and other leaders inside New Zealand and overseas. Throughout the two regattas 60 ‘missifs’ were circulated and numerous discussions held (like a dispatch from the front, a missif usually consisted on six to eight pages of text written in a jaunty and engaging style). Race 1 of the Louis Vuitton regatta was on October 1, 2002. Schnack-Net was launched on October 6, 2002. For maximum flexibility and ease, it was designed as an email list. It did not carry photos or graphics that impede download times. Schnack-Net:

1.3 Popular mythology constructs an America’s Cup regatta as a big money orgy of boys with toys. In addition, the 2003 regatta involved intense discursive struggle over what kind of country New Zealand is about to become. Instead of portraying the Cup as a sailing contest, Schnack-Net constructed, reconstructed and then deconstructed it as an arena for socio-cultural struggle. Within this arena, there were intense debates about what ‘patriotism’, ‘globalisation’, ‘home’ and ‘loyalty’ mean at the dawn of the 21^st century. Above all, Schnack-Net showed how the Cup is a struggle over learning, leadership and culture. The task here is to reflect on the context for and process of operating Schnack-Net.

3.1 The first New Zealand challenge for the America’s Cup was in 1987 with KZ-7 – the fibreglass ‘plastic fantastic’. Next, there was the ill-fated 1988 big-boat challenge where Dennis Conner used a catamaran. After the big boat debacle, agreement was reached on a new International America’s Cup Class (IACC) yacht and a regatta set for 1992.

3.2 The 1992 New Zealand challenge for the Cup advanced to the final of the Vuitton series but was overwhelmed by the ‘bowsprit controversy’ involving the Farr-designed NZL-20. However, Peter Blake felt his homeland was a contender and formed Team New Zealand Ltd to contest the 1995 regatta. In that contest, Russell Coutts acted as skipper and helmsman, Tom Schnackenberg as navigator and Brad Butterworth as tactician.

3.3 In 1995 Team New Zealand easily won the Cup from Dennis Conner and arrived home to unprecedented scenes of patriotism. For New Zealanders, beating ‘the Yanks’ was hugely significant. It constituted payback for American male seduction of New Zealand women during World War II (when N.Z. men were fighting in Europe or Africa) and, more recently, the David-versus-Goliath struggle over keeping U.S. nuclear weapons (and ships) out of New Zealand waters (Bioletti, 1989).

3.4 Between 1995 and the 2000 defence, there was conflict inside Team New Zealand about how to go forward. Sir Peter Blake favoured carrying on with the ‘family of five’ sponsors. Russell Coutts and others wanted to find a ‘B’ (billionaire). Sir Peter moved his office across the road from the main compound and announced he’d soon go to a project at the Cousteau foundation. Although there was good horizontal integration inside Team New Zealand there was a corrosive rift between the trustees (and their man Blake) and leading sailors and designers across the street.

3.5 There have been numerous allegations about what happened next. What’s certain is (immediately after the Year 2000 defence), Team New Zealand sent Coutts to secure sponsorship from Swiss pharmaceutical billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli. But, instead of coming back with money for Team New Zealand, he announced formation of the Alinghi (Swiss) syndicate that would include himself and other leading members of Team New Zealand.

3.6 Alinghi recruited six of the most knowledgeable, experienced and competent America’s Cup sailors in the world. However, the only thing that made them Swiss were watches on their wrists and the size of their bank accounts. Somehow Tom Schnackenberg, Dean Barker and others were able to settle differences with Team New Zealand trustees. But the ‘Swiss-six’ (Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth, Murray Jones, Simon Daubney, Dean Phipps and Warwick Fleury) all fled.

3.7 By the end of the 2003 regatta, five of the Swiss-six had won 15 America’s Cup races. Coutts had won 14 in a row – surpassing Dennis Conner for total victories and Charlie Barr for the most races without a loss. As well as being the world’s best match-racers, they had several things in common. First, they’d remained unbeaten in three series of America’s Cup match races (1995, 2000 with Team New Zealand and 2003 with Alinghi). Second, they were all citizens of New Zealand. Third, they all defected (in early 2000) from Team New Zealand.

3.8 The ability of Alinghi and the Swiss-six to win the 2003 America’s Cup was built on a foundation created by ordinary New Zealanders. All six had had come through New Zealand’s club system where citizens volunteer time to supervise youngsters. Four of the Swiss-six (Coutts, Butterworth, Daubney and Fleury) were part of the 1987 and all six at the centre of later New Zealand challenges for the America’s Cup. By 2003, citizens could be forgiven for thinking the Swiss-six had forgotten how they acquired Cup racing expertise.

3.9 Auckland banker Michael Fay orchestrated the 1987 New Zealand challenge with financial support from the Bank of New Zealand and ordinary citizens. In Course to Victory Coutts (1996) carefully described benefits he and other members of the Swiss-six derived from the early, mid and last parts of the 1987 challenge. Prior to 1987, Coutts had never sailed a Cup boat. Yet, after 2000, the defectors didn’t acknowledge that their knowledge and skills constituted a public good. They saw them as a private possession – to be traded on the free market. If they had recollections about who paid the costs of getting them into the highest echelons of professional yacht racing, they evaporated when Ernesto Bertarelli showed up with lucrative contracts ($8 - $10 million in Coutts case). Hence, by July, 2003, Coutts and Butterworth had accumulated a fortune of $14 million each and were high on the New Zealand sportsperson ‘rich list’ (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2572485a1823,00.html)

3.10 Cup defectors contrasted with film-maker Peter Jackson who, despite lavish offers from Hollywood, stays in Wellington amusing himself and millions of others making films like Heavenly Creatures, Lord of the Rings and King Kong. The other clear contrast concerns Ed Hillary who, after Everest, devoted his life to young New Zealanders and the Himalaya Trust that, thus far, has built 27 schools, 12 medical clinics, two hospitals and two airfields for the Sherpas. When recently asked if he would have become a multimillionaire had he made the climb today Hillary “made a sound that might be described as ‘harrumph’. “I have no desire to be a multimillionaire … I don’t need large sums of money,” he said (Just a gutsy bloke: The man and the myth, Weekend Herald, May 24-25th, 2003, p. B4)

4.1 A centrepiece of the neo-liberal (radical right) post-1984 ‘reform’ of New Zealand society was the need to forget the collectivism of the past and embrace individually oriented entrepreneurship in the global economy. Because of the post-1984 experiment with neo-liberalism, many New Zealand citizens were sanguine about defections from Team New Zealand. Young people had grown up with lectures about wealth creation. Having lived in a ‘cult of finance’ (Jesson, 1999) they were used to the idea that ‘money talks’. Defections were an inevitable consequence of globalisation.

4.2 The rightwing Business Roundtable was untroubled by the notion of people selling New Zealand intellectual property abroad; i.e. that humans act out of self-interest and material wealth is the prime motivator. Hence, they abhorred fretting about migration losses. People must “do the best for themselves and their families” (Kerr, 2001, p. 4). “Does it matter if Brad Butterworth takes his skills and money offshore?” asked the Business Roundtable.

4.3 Defections are part of headhunting and a salient attribute of professional sports. But, in a small country with a fragile economy, where every taxi driver, farmer and student has an opinion, losing six of the world’s best sailors was a serious problem. Hence, the 2003 America’s Cup was not a ‘friendly contest between nations’ (as anticipated in the Deed of Gift). It was a regatta like no other.

4.4 In the second discourse, defectors were condemned as traitors, defectors, selfish bastards or wankers interested in enriching themselves at the expense of the public good. During the 1999 election campaign it became clear most New Zealanders considered the post-1984 New Zealand Experiment (Kelsey, 1995; 2000) a failure. Even former P.M. David Lange had apologised for post-1984 excesses and radicalism of the reforms. In 1999, P.M. Helen Clark won the election by placing significant distance between herself and earlier ‘reforms’. She campaigned on a promise to undo the most corrosive manifestations of the New Zealand Experiment. Hence, many New Zealanders were not persuaded by the ‘rationality’ of choices made by the Swiss-six. Many saw them as products of what Auckland university economist Tim Hazeldine (1998) labelled ‘selfish-shit capitalism’.

4.5 There were three elements in the traitor/defector/wanker discourse. The first was psycho-cultural and concerned consequences for national pride. The second concerned economic consequences flowing from the loss of the Cup. The 2000 defence attracted $640 million into the N.Z. economy. The 2003 regatta exceeded this amount. By the start of the Vuitton Cup regatta in October, 2003, Cup-related spending in Auckland was already double that at the same stage of the 2000 defence. Already more than $126 million had been spent on boating and $115 million in hotels. About 1300 fulltime Cup-related jobs were created between 2000 and 2003. Despite lingering September 11^th apprehensions, three million people had visited the Viaduct (Gangplanks paved with gold, Sunday Star-Times, 9 February, 2003, p. 14). New Zealand could ill afford to lose these gains.

4.6 In the third element of the traitor discourse it was claimed that the Swiss-six sold knowledge and skills that didn’t belong to them. Had they forgotten where they’d come from? However, although it appeared defectors had opted for the best deal available, their ‘choices’ should be located in a wider context.

5.1 From 1984 until 1999 New Zealand was subject to a radical experiment in free market economics. An economic miracle didn’t occur. Prior to 1986, 15 to 25 year old New Zealanders were making a median income of $14,700 a year. By year 2000 the same group were making $8,100 and youth suicides were higher than in comparable countries. As well, living standards had plummeted and 70 percent of households were worse off than counterparts ten years earlier (Boshier, 2001).

5.2 Cabinet briefing papers spoke of “a sense of unease about the country’s social fabric … the fraying state of the nation’s families, children and the socially excluded” (Clark Finds New Energy, Sunday Star-Times, January 23, 2000, p. C2). ‘Efficiency’ and the ‘free market’ meant the already disadvantaged - young Maori and Pacific Islands women - were even more seriously jeopardised (Peters, Marshall & Massey, 1994).

5.3 After 1984, foreigners came to observe The New Zealand Experiment. Most were already convinced of the supremacy of Friedmanite economics. For Friedman the only thing that matters was shareholder profit. That the company might also think about its workers, community, society or planet was dismissed as quaint rubbish. Comfortable at the Hilton or Hyatt, visitors were in no position to witness the precipitous decline in literacy and numeracy rates, escalating expulsions from school, a deepening problem of Maori underachievement, confusion of demoralised and underpaid teachers, dismissal (through restructuring) of large numbers of skilled workers, 78 per cent cuts (in a single year) to adult education and emergence of an underclass. Apologists were also in no position to observe the collapse of conviviality, the belligerence of political discourse, and the consternation amongst people with lives turned upside down.

5.4 Given conditions at work and a growing divide between farmers and wage earners, trade unions took root in New Zealand and resulted in formation of the Labour Party in 1916. The depression of 1931 created hardship in households, riots, relief work and new theories about social policy and government. In 1935 the Labour Party swept to power on a landslide. It was this government that created a welfare state. By 1984 conditions for radical change were in place. How new right members of the inner cabinet and lobbyists persuaded Labour to jettison social democratic traditions and commit to total capitalism is described by Douglas and Callan (1987). Kelsey (1995) identified the anti-democratic nature of the reforms. The following were significant:

6.1 After 1984, the rationality of the marketplace would prevail. It didn’t work. Instead, society “lost cohesion and continuity …. industries closed, communities withered, people moved out of employment, change has been so constant that many people are disoriented. People wander through life relating to no social group wider than the family, and often not even that” (Jesson, 1999, p. 211). Expatriate New Zealanders (like the author) noticed how, despite extraordinary accomplishments in many fields, the post 1984 neo-liberal rendering of globalisation eroded confidence.

6.2 Most leading Cup sailors are now in their twenties or thirties. Almost none are old enough to remember much about pre-1984 New Zealand. In 1984, Russell Coutts was only 21 years old and not long out of high school. Other members of the Swiss-six are much younger than Coutts.

6.3 Rightwing commentators compared New Zealand with Albania. Throughout his twenties, Coutts and his cohort were lectured about the parochial, ‘backward’ and ‘unrealistic’ nature of pre-1984 New Zealand and opportunities awaiting those willing to embrace neo-liberal constructions of globalisation. They’d also witnessed the growth of ‘new public management’ (Boston, et. al., 1996) and, in deciding to leave, behaved in accord with “choice” theory wherein “it is … human to make, and want to make, continuous consumer-style choices” (Peters, Marshall & Fitzsimons, 2000, p. 121).

7.1 New public management (NPM) makes extensive use of written contracts, performance agreements and short-term employment contracts. There is an expectation employees will be motivated by economic rewards and sanctions and, in the context of globalisation, not get confused by messy notions like ‘patriotism,’ ‘mateship’ or folk back home. By the time of the 2000 defections, NPM had gained widespread acceptance in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. Within NPM there’s a switch from policy formation to management and from a preoccupation with process to a focus on output. NPM nicely fitted the New Zealand brand of neo-liberalism “precisely because of its capacity to combine economics, the social, and politics on behalf of rational choice as a principle of legitimacy” (Peters, Marshall & Fitzsimons, 2000, p. 118).

8.1 At university, papers published in refereed journals are the main coin of the realm (realm of the coin). In an America’s Cup regatta all that matters is performance. It’s a ruthless environment with no doubt about winners and losers. Peter Snell liked running for the same reason. The first person to hit the tape wins. End of story. There is no second and few can remember unsuccessful challengers. It is the perfect metaphor for globalisation.

8.2 This ‘magnificent obsession’ has always engaged the interest of edgy and wealthy individuals used to winning and having their names plastered across billboards, newspapers and television. It’s why Sir Thomas Lipton – a man with an enormous appetite for publicity – mounted his much appreciated but unsuccessful challenges with Shamrock. It’s why the 2003 regatta attracted people like Larry Ellison (Oracle), Patrizio Bertelli (Prada), Craig McCaw (OneWorld), Peter Harrison (Great Britain Challenge), Dennis Conner (Team Dennis Conner), Jan Stenbeck (Swedish Victory Challenge) and Ernesto Bertarelli (Alinghi).

8.3 America’s Cup syndicates need $60 million for a minimal and $150 (USD) million for an all-out effort and are obliged to manifest sponsor fulfillment. They have to get the sponsor’s name and logo onto television screens and into Internet servers around the world. However, to reach a global audience, the event has to be broadcast. This is not easy because the match is held on open ocean – in conditions not appreciated by sensitive cameras, microphones and seasick prone camera operators and technicians.

8.4 A defining moment in Cup broadcasting was on October 16, 1899. Italian Guglielmo Marconi had been contacted by the New York Herald and asked to transmit live radio coverage of races between Columbia and Lipton’s Shamrock. Marconi knew it was possible because in July, 1898 he’d hired a tug, fitted a 75’ antennae and broadcast a regatta sailed near Dublin. In the 1899 America’s Cup he did it again. In a preface to the 2003 regatta, in one race Shamrock’s topmast snapped in two and fell to leeward in 12 knots of wind. Marconi dutifully transmitted this news to the Herald.

8.5 Lipton and his Shamrock challenge had an enormous following in England – built mostly on his flare for advertising, friendships in the royal family, philanthropy and tendency to surprise. But how could news media there cover a sailing race being held off Sandy Hook, New York?

8.6 Behind the Daily Mail offices in Carmelite St, London, the Evening News erected a hoarding with two miniature yachts inserted in the back. As the race progressed and cables were received, models were moved through slits in the canvass. Huge crowds cheered when the ‘cineyachtograph’ showed Shamrock was ahead. During one race there was such a large crowd police had to close it.

9.1 Because New Zealand teams have been continuously involved in the America’s Cup since 1987 and Kiwis are passionate about sports, Television New Zealand (TVNZ) has developed expertise in this area. These days’ helicopters carry cameras capable of zooming in on a hand turning a winch, a helmsman picking his nose or a small tear in a sail.

9.2 In 1987, Australian broadcasters produced an exciting show in the mayhem of Gage Roads off Perth. These pictures were rebroadcast in New Zealand where the drama of KZ-7 (the Kiwi plastic fantastic) versus Dennis Conner brought ordinary life to a halt. But, today those pictures look amateurish compared to Television New Zealand broadcasts. From 1995 onwards Television New Zealand’s coverage has yielded a programme of unrivalled quality.

9.3 In 2003 Television New Zealand sold live pictures (and commentary if needed) of the Vuitton and America’s Cup regattas to broadcasters throughout the world. There were numerous microphones on the boats and three layers of commentary. There are photo-boats such as Northstar or the $900,000 power cat Into The Blue on all parts of the course. Cameras on the bow and stern are worth $1.03 million each, can move through 360 degrees and have powerful zoom lenses. Attached to titanium tubes, they look like a giant eyeball. Dennis Harvey, TVNZ Head of Sports, called it “probably the most technically difficult of any sports coverage in the world … you don’t have a defined field of play, it’s shifting constantly and there’s nothing connected to the camera” (High-tack telly, 2002)

10.1 At the time of the 2003 America’s Cup there were 31 billion email messages moving across the Internet each day (http://itworld.ca). About two thirds of these were person-to-person messages. The rest were spam. There were 13 billion hits on Internet sites covering the 2000 regatta. For the 2003 regatta there were three kinds of Internet-based broadcasts of the America’s Cup.

11. 1 Type ‘America’s Cup’ into Google and, in mid-April, 2003 you’d be rewarded with 381,000 hits. Many of these were linked to magazines and impelled by commercial interests. A second set of hits takes the searcher to challenger or defender syndicates.

12.1 VirtualSpectator.com is an Auckland-based company that, in 2002-2003, for a small fee, provided viewers with an Internet-based, graphically intensive way of watching Cup races in real time. Virtual Spectator used data transmitted from race boats to deliver life-like images of yachts on a virtual course. Even when in a spectator boat out on the racecourse it’s hard to tell who’s leading. With Virtual Spectator the viewer sees the distance between competing boats and their positions in relation to a mark or finish line. Virtual Spectator was first used in the 1992 America’s Cup but since then, has been elaborated and refined.

13.1 Schnack-Net was an example of the third kind of Internet-based broadcaster – the list-serve. A list-serve is like a club with a mutual interest. With one key stroke an author can send a newsletter to five, 500 or 500,000 people. Like any mailing-list, all that’s needed is maintenance.

13.2 Well-known yachting list-serves that broadcast Cup news include the popular U.S.-based Scuttlebutt (moderated by the aptly-named Curmudgeon and mailed to 17,000 readers). Some are available at no charge (e.g. Scuttlebutt or Schnack-Net). Others levy a fee or carry advertising.

14.1 Schnack-Net was like a smart, patriotic, critical, gossipy but theoretically developed local newspaper. Except, in this case, it went to the world. There are several reasons for this.

15. 1 In the 1950’s and 60’s, Maurice [Boshier], father of the author, was a passionate follower of Australian attempts to win the Cup. The Tucker family lived not far from us in Hastings – on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. One of the Tucker girls married Ellis Schnackenberg and it was their son Tom that made sails for Australia II, won the Cup three times and got honorary doctoral degrees from universities in Vancouver and Auckland. Tom is almost universally known as ‘Schnack’ or ‘Schnack’s.’

15.2 Hastings is also home of broadcaster Paul Holmes who, in 1989 launched his television current affairs show with a tough interview of Dennis Conner. Two years earlier Conner had accused New Zealand of cheating because KZ-7 was built of fibreglass. What made the Holmes interview memorable was the fact Conner blew a gasket and stalked out of the studio. Anticipating this, the publicity-seeking Holmes had cameras placed at strategic places to film what they knew would be a dramatic exit by Big-Bad-Dennis.

15.3 At the end of the 2003 regatta Holmes conducted another remarkable interview – this time with Russell Coutts. He got straight to the point.

16.1 Prior to the 1987 America’s Cup regatta the UBC Centre for Continuing Education orchestrated a workshop designed to drum-up Canadian interest. After the successful 1851 challenge by the New York Yacht Club, Canadians were the first to challenge for what became known as ‘America’s’ Cup. Although there are lavish financial and technological resources, Canada lacks cultural instincts needed to mount a viable Cup challenge. Yet, on the west coast there is significant interest and, in 2002, Schnack-Net was housed on a University of British Columbia (UBC) computer. It was a project of the UBC Technology and Education Research Network (http://www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/tern) and congruent with the university’s internationalization strategy [http://www.vision.ubc.ca/principles/internationalization.html].

16.2 Sir Edmund Hillary is the most famous dropout from the University of Auckland. Tom Schnackenberg occupies much the same role at the University of B.C. He was a doctoral student at UBC in the late 1960’s and studied nuclear physics. However, after falling among dinghy sailors he got more enthusiastic about sail making than why protons dance with neutrons. In 1977, he was lured away to the Enterprise and later the Australian America’s Cup syndicates. He became a vital member of the winning 1983 Alan Bond/John Bertrand Australia II syndicate.

16.3 By 2001, Schnack had won the America’s Cup three times and the University of B.C. decided to give him an honorary doctoral degree. The technology, leadership and intelligence demonstrated by winning the Cup more than matched requirements of the most onerous doctoral programme. Hence, in May 2001, Tom and Annette Schnackenberg were in Vancouver and it was here that the nucleus of Schnack-Net was formed.

17.1 In a typical Louis Vuitton or America’s Cup race, two 80’ racing yachts enter a ‘box’ and, immediately prior to the start gun, try to position themselves so as to cross the line first and, given the complexities of who must give way to who, in a prevailing position. The first leg of the race takes the boats into the wind so there is a lot of tacking back and forth. In most cases, the boat that wins the start and makes the ‘first cross,’ wins the race.

17.2 The first windward leg takes boats three miles up the course against the wind. After rounding the first mark they open spinnakers (or gennakers) and the trailing boat can steal wind from and overtake the one in front (such as in Race 2 of the 2003 America’s Cup). Designers face the challenge of building a boat fast in both directions. There are six legs – up and down wind – making it an approximately 18 mile long course.

17.3 During the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup regatta the author was aboard Let’s Elope – the vessel carrying the course marshall in charge of the windward mark. Let’s Elope provided access to the inner-workings of the race committee and a platform with clear views of Cup races and cultural practices.

18.1 Throughout the 2002-2003 regatta, there was a ‘loyalty’ campaign designed to boost the home team. ‘Loyal’ flags were flown from vehicles, boats, helicopters and buildings. Large billboards were emblazoned with a silver fern and the word ‘Loyal.’ Dave Dobbyn’s haunting rendition of the song ‘Loyal’ was continuously played on television and radio and issued in a commemorative, fund-raising souvenir CD.

18.2 There were powerful black-and-white television advertisements showing a long line of people apparently stretching the length of New Zealand. Embedded in the line, clutching hands to their hearts, were New Zealand personalities (such as Ed Hillary and Maori All-Black Waka Nathan). With Dobbyn’s Loyal song swelling in the background, the line reached the Team New Zealand base, snaked down the dock and ended with close-up shots of Tom Schnack and Dean Barker. It closed with a deep voice explaining how well-heeled billionaires have come to ‘take what’s ours.’

18.3 Nobody could avoid the Loyal campaign. However, those living abroad would not be aware of how a sailing regatta had turned into a struggle over patriotism and how to maintain local practices in the context of globalisation. Hence, three imperatives drove Schnack-Net.

Hence, after ensuring Team New Zealand considered this a worthwhile project, Schnack-Net was launched and the readership quickly expanded.

19.1 For Schnack-Net to work it was necessary to dispatch missifs to interested but politically sophisticated people.

19.2 Those working in academic environments are familiar with the ‘majordomo’ software used to create lists. The list owner asks their webmaster to create a list. The owner can access the server and, each day, adds new members or deletes rotten addresses. Most list software allow people to join or leave by entering commands that don’t require the intervention of the list owner.

19.3 Each posting to Schnack-Net consisted of 6 to 8 pages of text. Sixty missifs were posted throughout the 2002 Vuitton and 2003 America’s Cup regattas. All were written by the author and many contained responses from readers. Two or three days separated each posting although, when Team New Zealand was under pressure, they were more frequent. High drama sometimes evoked two postings in one day.

19.4 Most postings depended on the author’s observations of America’s Cup cultural practices. However, several passed on information secured from Cup insiders such as Tom Whidden (tactician, Team Dennis Conner), Doug Petersen (designer, Prada) and friends in Team New Zealand.

19.5 There were 134 core members. Many were forwarding Schnack-Net missifs to friends, relatives and colleagues. It is difficult to estimate how many people were reading it on a routine basis. Most core members were sending it to others who, in turn were forwarding it further. Then it would be passed along to other lists and servers. Based on post-Cup (mostly online) interviews with some members, the best guess is several thousand people were routinely reading Schnack-Net.

19.6 Most core members had a connection to New Zealand. Many were expatriates. Existing members recommended new people but others got there because the author spent time on syndicate row, at the Viaduct basin and on the racecourse. Chris Law became a member of Schnack-Net. He was in the British Olympic sailing teams in 1972, 1976, 1980, and 1984. He’s won the Sydney-Hobart race and was a four-time national European and World Finn champion. He was a key member of the 1987 British challenge for the America’s Cup, helmed White Crusader and, in 2002 won the gruelling UBS match-racing challenge.

19.7 What distinguished Schnack-Net from other broadcasts about the Cup was its radical humanist tone (Paulston, 1996) and membership. Members occupied important positions in New Zealand and abroad. Those inside New Zealand were leaders in their fields (such as film-making, academia or politics). Those abroad constituted an influential diaspora. In general, list members fell into these categories:

19.8 The first set of members sent new addresses for inclusion or forwarded it to friends who then asked to be placed on the list. Steve Southam was typical. “I came on Schnack-Net around Missif Number 35 – introduced by Peter Grayson from Gisborne. I regularly forwarded it to two parties in Auckland, one in the Bay of Plenty and four or five in other places”. (E-mail from Steve Southam, March 6^th, 2003). In a desire to make Schnack-Net accessible it was kept as a text-only operation.

19.9 Here is a typical reaction from Sue Pickrell, Captain of a Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft. “There’s more to the America’s Cup than just the race and no coverage on OLN could show that. I overheard two men discussing the Cup on a flight. Their knowledge was limited to what they saw on T.V. There is so much more to this than the actual event. Schnack-Net did a wonderful job of illuminating the issues.” This member reported reading missifs on screen or saving them in a folder. She “definitely shared the latest events with work-mates and family members” (Pickrell, 2003).

19.10 Each Schnack-Net missif (No’s 1 to 60) had the same look. The first line announced it was a “Project of the UBC Technology and Education Research Network.” In each missif there was a welcome to three members. This served to give members insight about who else was receiving the list and demonstrated the global reach of the network. One member was in Tehran.

19.11 A typical missif consisted of news, interpretation or opinion on seven or eight issues. There was usually a report of the day’s racing, a round-up of gossip, speculation about what was happening behind high fences on Syndicate Road, reports of conversations with various luminaries and a critical reflection on what “lay behind” the drama and controversies. Schnack-Net was a space for learning and reflection about how to build a better society. It was loosely informed by an anarchist-utopian perspective (Paulston, 1977) which values peer networks (of the kind preferred by Ivan Illich). It provided multiple ‘readings’ of Cup developments. It connected ordinary citizens with top-flight Cup campaigners. At worst, it was a highly-partisan ploy or misuse of university resources.

20.1 Schnack-Net enabled expatriate New Zealanders to engage in ‘identity practices’ (Burbules, 2000). These are ways of “forming, expressing and defending their identities in response to and relation to each another.” They’re sometimes personal and private but, in the case of Schnack-Net, collective, public and negotiated. It became possible to play with multiple identities, work out conflicts and make different ‘readings’ of what was happening on the race course.

20.2 Hence, a typical Schnack-Net missif contained commentary and scholarly analysis concerning, for example, the cultural significance of the hula (hull appendage) and importance of the ‘voyage’ as a defining metaphor of New Zealand life. Serious scholarly analysis was juxtaposed next to playful asides about Vegemite sandwiches, Rush Munro’s ice cream, Ed Hillary, kiwi fruit and fish-and-chips. One member later said he’d greatly appreciated the ‘one-eyed’ commitment to Team New Zealand ‘even when clear the chips were down’.

21.1 Albrow and King (1990), Burbules and Torres (2000), Hall (1991) Harvey, Rail and Thibault (1996), Paulston (1996), Robertson (1992) and others have charted the discursive contours of globalisation and localization. In the context of the America’s Cup it was not a case of globalisation versus localization. Just as postmodernism occurs in the context of (not after) modernism, local New Zealand practices jostle for space within the hegemony of globalisation. But how much localization is desirable or can be tolerated in a society committed to globalisation-as-neo-liberalism?

21.2 For some people, globalisation refers to the emergence of supranational institutions that constrain national (or state) policy options. For others, it refers to global production, consumption and capital. A third definition focuses on global culture, media and communications technologies. A fourth way of defining globalisation – the one preferred here – equates it with neo-liberalism.

21.3 In New Zealand, globalisation-as-neo-liberalism has three dimensions. In the first, marketisation is touted as the only ‘realistic’ way of positioning small countries to function in the global economy. The second concerns the desirability of individualism, choice, self interest and economic rewards. Within this discursive realm, there’s an obsession with ‘management’ and ‘choice.’ The third dimension concerns the need to suppress local (particularly ‘backward,’ ‘past’ or ‘parochial’) cultural practices in favour of performance on ‘the world as your stage.’

21.4 A New Zealander is Vice Chancellor of Oxford University and, in earlier times, a Kiwi edited the Oxford English dictionary. Even the venerable Royal Air Force was run by a New Zealander. Somebody must be doing something right and, in the context of Schnack-Net, localisation referred to the need to celebrate local cultural practices that vaulted kiwis into the highest realms of mountaineering, film, academia, rugby, opera and high-performance yacht racing. Among these practices is egalitarianism, respect for farm-gate learning (Boshier, 2002), mateship, self-deprecating humour (even in the face of extreme adversity), disdain for hierarchy, respect for Maori, flat organisation structures, distrust of overseas ‘experts’ and, as was said when Hillary usurped Englishman Bunny Fuchs in the race across Antarctic, a “bugger-the-establishment independence” (Just a gutsy bloke: The man and the myth, Weekend Herald, May 24-25^th, 2003, p. B4.).

21.5 Localisation was a focal point of the 2003 Everest 50^th anniversary celebrations during which Hillary was compared to Coutts. A kiwi bloke committed to localization “must avoid scandal, stay local and loyal (just ask Russell Coutts), keep a high profile, and, especially in New Zealand, be well-known overseas”. Hillary is widely though to personify local New Zealand values, many “we fear belong to an era that has passed”. For historian Michael King it’s the notion of equality, of giving people a “fair go”. For Hillary’s mountaineering mate George Lowe, it’s “not wanting more and more”. For political scientist Barry Gustafson Hillary is unassuming and intelligent “but not in a bookish way”. To this day, Hillary’s name and phone number are in the Auckland phone book and he’s widely thought to be a larger than life (and very tall) personification of local kiwi values and “blokehood” (Just a gutsy bloke: The man and the myth, Weekend Herald, May 24-25^th, 2003, p. B4.) Tom Schnack, whom the author knows better than Hillary, manifests many of the same characteristics. But whereas Hillary is tall and was renowned for his physical strength, Schnack is short, curious, animated and fiercely intelligent. Part of Hillary’s aura was built on brawnpower. Schnack has the same easy-going and convivial manner but, perhaps with a tilt toward the knowledge economy and needs of the 21^st century, has formidable brain rather than brawnpower.

22.1 Going into the 2003 defence, Team New Zealand was organised around a local, while Alinghi tilted toward a more globalised, form of organisation. Table 1 lists tensions explored in the 60 Schnack-Net missifs. The author was predisposed toward the localisation side of Table 1 and suggested that what most distinguished the home side could be found in deeper (and local) meanings attached to their name – ‘Team’ and ‘New Zealand’.

TABLE 1. Socio-Political Elements in the Discursive Construction of the 2003 America’s Cup Defender and Challenger

	GLOBALISATION	LOCALISATION
	Alinghi	Team New Zealand
Main sponsor	Personal fortune	‘Family-of-five’
	Swiss billionaire	N.Z. companies

Estimated Cost	$150 million	$85 million

Boat name	Postmodern signifier;	Country
	Brand with no meaning

Logos/branding	Postmodern swirls	N.Z. Silver Fern

Staffing	Worldwide headhunting	Mostly N.Z. nationals

Relationship to nation-state	None	Considerable

Operational foci	Individual ‘excellence’	Team building

Motivation	Money/Global Marketing	Country/Pride

Leadership	Great men	Team
Orientation

Syndicate	Corporation	Whanau
Organisation		[Extended family]

Links to Indigenality	None	Considerable

Historical Consciousness	None	Considerable

Focus of rewards	Private interests	Public good

Meaning of ‘home’	Poorly defined	Well-defined

22.2 Schnack-Net was opinionated, critical and turned conventional wisdom on its head by exploring themes (such as Maori values) not normally associated with the big money, glamour and technical challenge of the America’s Cup. For Schnack-Net, the outcome of the regatta would reinforce corporatism nested in neo-liberal constructions of the nation state or demonstrate the superiority of collectivist and convivial notions embodied in Team New Zealand. Some thought it a yacht race. Schnack-Net saw it as a struggle over the future of New Zealand society and politics. In the end Team New Zealand lost the Cup and, as a result there has been a further erosion of confidence in local cultural practices along with strident (in our view, unwise) demands to emulate the more globalised practices nested in Alinghi.

23.1 Global networking is at the centre of many plans for educational reform. It was a centrepiece of the Faure (1972) proposals on the ‘learning society’ with the emphasis on learning and dialogue in informal and nonformal as well as formal educational settings. It is even more pronounced in recent proclamations about the information age, knowledge economy, knowledge society or learning city (Boshier, in press). Networking is usually constructed as a tool for economic development – as in the rightwing neo-liberal OECD repackaging of lifelong learning. But Schnack-Net used global networking to build loyalty to Team New Zealand by promoting localisation within globalisation.

23.2 After the failed defence, Schnack-Net could be dismissed as misguided yearnings stirred up by living overseas for 30 years. Besides, Team New Zealand, 3.8 million loyal New Zealanders, Schnackenberg’s soaring intellect or an energetic list-serve could not overwhelm the skills of New Zealand defectors on the ‘Swiss’ boat. Team New Zealand was able to finish only three of five America’s Cup races. Yet, all was not lost.

23.3 The following conclusions were warranted. Team New Zealand has completed an extensive investigation into what went wrong. Concerning Schnack-Net, members appreciated its text-based nature. Those labouring with slow dial-up access and old software had no problems downloading missifs. High production value was not needed. Email lists are easy to maintain. Dialogue is easily fostered by cutting and pasting member contributions. Members indicated they’ll tolerate extra email if it touches their soul.

23.4 Winning and then, eight years later, losing the America’s Cup permanently changed life in New Zealand. In this drama, Schnack-Net was only a blip on a darkening horizon. At the time it fitted the context, was applauded by Team New Zealand and appreciated by list members. In addition, the more than 300 page record of the emotionally-wrenching 2003 regatta captures the discursive contours of what became a stern contest concerning localization in the context of globalisation.

23.5 Soon after the trauma of defeat, certain defectors had been forgiven and asked to come home. Round-the-world (Whitbread/Volvo) yachtsman and iron-man champion Grant Dalton was appointed Leader of the syndicate. Schnackenberg was assigned to a ‘roving’ position. Team New Zealand lurched back toward a ‘great man’ (c.f. Peter Blake) style of leadership. John Kostecki, an American, was hired to organise tactics and British citizen Andy Clauson took over design. Team New Zealand considered entering the Volvo Round-The-World race. Alinghi created rules that removed nationality requirements. Hence, future regattas could involve a contest where Coca Cola goes against Pepsi, Lufthansa against British Airways, McDonalds versus Burger King. The 2003 defence was probably the last regatta to celebrate ‘the local.’ The notion of a ‘friendly contest’ among ‘nations’ is dead.

23.6 America’s Cup syndicates have used university resources to study water flows over keels and passage of air across sails. But this appears to be the first time university networking resources were used to support an America’s Cup defender and, in a postmodern gesture, a computer in a Canadian university assisted the New Zealand syndicate. Was Schnack-Net itself a manifestation of the ‘new-globalism’ of the America’s Cup?

23.7 For New Zealanders, the 2003 regatta had a dismal outcome. But, as usual, it was rife with intrigue, drama and fascinating struggles over learning, leadership and culture. By reaching across cultures, continents and oceans, Schnack-Net added new dimensions to the Team New Zealand effort and showed that, when networking is done properly, expatriates welcome the connection to ‘home’.

23.8 The next regatta is in 2007. Until then, much like exhausted New Zealanders, Schnack-Net is down but not out. If and when Team New Zealand gets new boats up to speed, Schnack-Net could once again burst with possibilities for fund-raising and syndicate support in cities other than Auckland.

Acknowledgements: The author observed the Louis Vuitton regatta from Let’s Elope, the Course Marshall boat. Two toots on the horn and a dip of the pennant for Captain Tony and First Mate Diana Tompkins. The author also acknowledges the enthusiasm and interest of Tom Schnackenberg and Ross Blackman.

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Using globalisation technology for localisation: How Schnack-Net reconstructed the America’s Cup

Relationship to nation-state

Links to Indigenality

Historical Consciousness

Using globalisation technology for localisation:
How Schnack-Net reconstructed the America’s Cup