Q & A / MICHAEL FAY : Stepping Back--But Just a Bit

knight-errant 1. A medieval knight wandering in search of adventures, esp. ones which allow him to redress wrongs or show his prowess .

--Webster’s

Oh, would Sir Michael Fay love to redress some wrongs.

Since New Zealand joined the America’s Cup game in 1986, Fay’s adventures have taken him far and wide:

* To Fremantle, Australia, to hear Dennis Conner suggest the Kiwis were trying to cheat by building their fast little 12-meter out of fiberglass.

* To San Diego, to post a renegade challenge with a radical big boat.

* To the courts of New York, to make the challenge stick.

* Back to San Diego for the race--against a catamaran.

* Back to the courts of New York, where you win some and lose some.

So goes the life of a merchant banker turned sailing entrepreneur.

“In the last six years, I’ve spent nearly three years living offshore with the America’s Cup teams,” Fay said.

While he’s away, partner David Richwhite minds the store of Fay, Richwhite & Co., without complaint, for Auckland is the city of sails, and this would be really big stuff down there in, say, 1995.

Fay, 43, returns to San Diego, fittingly a knight, by decree of Queen Elizabeth II in 1990. The Cup is his crusade.

Q: How did you happen to become a knight?

Fay: “I don’t know how it happens. You never know why.”

Q: It wasn’t explained?

Fay: “Yes, but only in six words: ‘For service to banking and yachting.’ It’s always for services to something. I was surprised but delighted. It’s more a recognition of what New Zealand yachting has done in the last 10 years, more than what Michael Fay has done . . . (designer Bruce) Farr, (former skipper Chris) Dickson in Fremantle. And the big boat challenge, for all of its problems. Our country received recognition.”

Q: How has it changed your life?

Fay: “Someone in America told me, ‘Well, you’ll never have to queue in a restaurant, but you’ll never get an honest bill again.’

“When I was knighted, other New Zealanders were knighted at the same time. One was Sir Richard Hadley, a cricketeer. Another was Sir Howard Morrison, a Maori entertainer. I think we were the two youngest since Sir Edmund Hillary, who was 33 or 35 when he climbed Everest. (The) ’88 (challenge) had its disappointments for us, so this was on the positive side.”

Q: Australia’s Alan Bond won the Cup in 1983, but he was never knighted.

Fay: “There was a Labor government. He got a thing called the Order of Australia.”

Q: What could the Cup do for business?

Fay: “It was always said that it opened a lot of doors for Alan Bond. We’ve never knocked on any doors because of the America’s Cup--I mean David Richwhite and I. We see it as an unfinished business.

“Maybe too many doors opened for Alan (who is fighting off bankruptcy and is under investigation for financial irregularities). For all the problems that Alan’s had, he and (1983 skipper) John Bertrand and (Australia II designer) Benny Lexcen and Warren Jones are still the role model heroes of the America’s Cup to me because they’re the only team that’s ever beaten America since 1851.”

Q: Do you see yourself as such an historical figure in the Cup?

Fay: “I don’t think the chapter of the New Zealanders in the America’s Cup will be written until after this regatta. That’s eight years, and in that eight years we’ve been at it all the time. There are only three months in that eight years we haven’t campaigned.”

Q: Was the 1988 big boat challenge your try for a shortcut to the Cup?

Fay: “We saw one of the greatest chances that the Cup had ever presented. You don’t try too hard with the Cup. You’ve gotta believe in it because since 1851, before the Marquis of Queensbury wrote down the rules for boxing, the rules for this event were written. It’s the oldest organized sporting contest in the world. It’s gone for 141 years and it’s just as healthy and as interesting as it ever was. Maybe more.

“Here was the Cup New Zealand presented in a time in ’87 when interest was very high . . . a chance to say, will the defender build a big boat? Japan, France and England and Australia were prepared to build big boats. To me, ’88 was an opportunity lost in terms of the tapestry of the Cup.”

Q: But you were accused of keeping other challengers out.

Fay: “The record book is not very straight on ’88. We were very comfortable with meeting the other challengers. We said we would sail in San Diego. (The San Diego Yacht Club) said they wouldn’t allow it.

“Not much was all that good about ‘88, but a lot of good came out of it. We have a very good, exciting (class of) boat here, for sailing in San Diego conditions. The Trustees’ Committee is supervising the regatta so that if there are disputes--and there could well be--they will be resolved easily. There are a lot of new challengers coming in. I think the Cup’s moving ahead again.”

Q: You have been called the father of the International America’s Cup Class.

Fay: (laughing) “That had to happen. The Cup has to move on. I’ve had a chance to cover its history now . . . the events, the characters. From ‘83, the Cup’s squeezed more into that 10-year period than in any other 10-year period in its history. So we can say that ’83 to ’92 has produced some vintage Cups.”

Q: You hired Peter Blake, leader of the victorious Steinlager 2 campaign in the ‘89-90 Whitbread Round the World Race, to be the managing director of your syndicate. Are you trying to stay in the background this time?

Fay: “I’m a shareholder who sits down in the PR trailer. Peter Blake’s got my (old) job. He’s the boss. I don’t think any syndicate’s got a better man. New Zealand should be down on its knees saying thank goodness for Peter Blake.”

Q: In 1986-87 it seemed you were still learning what your job was . . . how to play the game.

Fay: “It took us a while to learn. We were force-fed some of the lessons. People have said they haven’t seen a lot of Michael Fay (or) the Kiwis beating the drum and calling press conferences. Don’t mistake lack of activity on that front for a lack of resolve.

“I think we have more resolve than any other team here. We’re volunteers who feel very strongly the sense of New Zealand on the boat. We’re an all-New Zealand team.”

Q: Does that mean the issue of Rod Davis as skipper has been put to rest?

Fay: “If Rod Davis hadn’t married a New Zealander, I’m sorry, he wouldn’t have been eligible.”

Q: Just living in New Zealand for two years to fulfill the Cup residency requirement wouldn’t have been enough?

Fay: “No. And in fairness to Rod, he’s been selected to sail for our country in the Olympics also. He’s come to live there, he holds New Zealand citizenship, his kids are Kiwis. He was an American in the first half of his life. He’s a New Zealander in the second half. He won the job on his merits and he’s got my 100% support.”

Q: How much of your resolve is fired by Dennis Conner?

Fay: “Well, there’s only one guy we’d like to beat.”

Q: His comments weren’t very kind to your people in 1988, were they?

Fay: “I think it was unnecessary in the context of a sporting event. I don’t take it personally. I just think it lets the event down, the Cup down. We may be a bit old-fashioned about these things. To us there’s a certain code. We feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to conduct ourselves in a manner that’s appropriate for a team that’s representing its country offshore.”

Q: What would a Cup victory mean for your country?

Fay: “Our economy is potentially not in too bad a shape. Our problem is more one of spirit. We’re a little country--3 million people plus. We’ve moved from one of the highest standards of living in the world in the ‘50s and ‘60s to a very low standard of living. It’s a very sad time for many people at home. They’re confused.

“The effect today is that the Kiwi feels a bit grounded. The Kiwi bird’s never been able to fly, but he’s always believed he would someday. He’s gotta get his confidence back. We as a team would like to do our bit.”

Q: Will you ride on the boat as the 17th man?

Fay: “No. I did that in ’88.”

Q: Is the team ready?

Fay: “I think this team would die out there before they lost.”