Latest from the AC Rumor Mill

Is the sailing empire that was once Emirates Team New Zealand beginning to crumble? The principals are remaining tight-lipped, but the circumstantial evidence and rampant speculation — all you ever need for juicy America’s Cup controversy — make for some pretty interesting reading of late.

The cracks in the foundation started to appear a couple of weeks ago when longtime TNZ skipper Dean Barker learned — by reading it on Facebook — that he was being replaced as helmsman by Peter Burling.

It is no secret that Kiwi wunderkind Burling was hired by ETNZ a year ago. But the question of who will helm the next generation of 62-ft foiling cats at AC35 in Bermuda in 2017 was supposedly still undecided.

It is also no secret that there has never been any love lost between Barker and syndicate head Grant Dalton. Barker has never said it in so many words, but he has often alluded to Dalton’s making less-than-stellar decisions without consulting him (Barker) or other key players. Just one example is Dalton’s insistence on taking one of the grinder spots on ETNZ’s AC72 during their ignoble and embarrassing defeat at the hands of Oracle Team USA in the last America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013.

Now, apparently, Barker feels that Dalton has — once again — gone behind his back. This after Dalton said just this January that “Dean will very much be involved with the decision” as to who would helm the new boat.

The latest reports a few days ago indicate that Barker has even hired lawyers — generally not a good sign but, again, par for the course in the America’s Cup. They have demanded a “formal explanation” of his treatment by ETNZ.

The crazy part is that, by all indications, Barker seemed to be fine with the possibility of relinquishing the helm to Burling, who among other things won an Olympic silver medal in 49ers in 2012 and the International Moth Worlds in January. Barker also appeared good-to-go with the ongoing restructuring of ETNZ, including the roles he, Dalton, and other top brass would have in the next America’s Cup.

But to be kicked to the curb with no warning may have been the last straw for the 42-year-old Barker.

The buzz now is that if this rift can’t be patched up, Barker will stay only if Dalton steps down.

What the departure of either man would mean to the future of ETNZ is unclear. Dalton, who replaced Sir Peter Blake as syndicate head in 2003, is an almost mythical figure in New Zealand, having competed in seven round-the-world races, including helming the winning 110-ft catamaran Club Med in 2001’s The Race.

Barker has been sailing as a helmsman with Team New Zealand for 20 years, which if we’re not mistaken makes him the second most ‘faithful to the home team’ skipper in AC history, behind only Dennis Conner. He was first invited to join the 1995 team (to drive the "B" boat) by Russell Coutts, and took over as team captain when Coutts defected to Alinghi after the 2000 Cup.

But three America’s Cup losses in a row — and especially that last one when Oracle recovered from an eight-race deficit to win — has made fundraising an increasingly tough sell for ETNZ. It will be interesting to see if, and how, a rift of this magnitude will affect New Zealand’s participation in the next Cup.

Oh, and speaking of crazy, the latest gossip making the rounds is that Barker is being courted by Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge. Both sides deny the rumors.