Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, the insurer for Team Dennis Conner (TDC) in the 2002/2003 America’s Cup campaign, asked Burke Design to investigate costs associated with the repair of the International America’s Cup Class (IACC) yacht USA-77, Stars & Stripes. The boat was damaged during an accidental sinking while training off Long Beach, CA in the summer of 2002. The sinking occurred in relatively shallow water, allowing the boat to be salvaged. Unfortunately, damage was extensive enough that the entire bow and foredeck, forward of the chainplates, as well as the cockpit support beams, needed to be replaced. Schedule demands required that the damaged USA-77 be shipped directly to New Zealand, site of the America’s Cup challenger series, while the replacement parts were being fabricated. The yacht’s original builder, New England Boatworks (NEB) of Portsmouth, RI, was selected to build the replacement bow section and cockpit beams. When the parts arrived in New Zealand, the damaged sections were removed from the boat, and the replacement parts were joined to the existing structure.
Burke Design prepared a detailed cost analysis of the repair for the insurance company. Data provided from NEB computer records and interviews helped Burke Design to create a spreadsheet totaling weekly invoices for the repair, including labor hours and costs (at multiple rates), material costs, travel expenses, and subcontractor costs. The total repair labor hours and costs were then compared with similar figures from the original construction of TDC’s two racing yachts, USA-66 and USA-77. This comparison allowed an accurate determination of whether the cost of repairs was indeed “fair and reasonable”, based on the ratio of surface areas between the repairs and the boat’s entire structure. The repair investigation report compiled by Burke Design enabled Atlantic Mutual to quickly reach an equitable settlement with all of the parties involved.
