America’s Cup teams try to peek under rival skirts

IT used to be the sea breezes on distant tree boughs that gave the first clues of impending drama at the America’s Cup, but now the early excitement comes from the competitors’ efforts to peek under their rivals’ skirts.

The 151-year-old trophy, known as Yachting's Formula One, gets underway in Auckland on October 1 with the holder Team New Zealand (TNZ) and nine challengers having invested at least $430 million in a bid to get their hands on the trophy, a piece of Victorian kitsch.

The Viaduct Basin has come alive. Each morning the inner harbour witnesses a procession akin to a horse racing paddock as the thoroughbred International America's Cup Class yachts are towed out to the Hauraki Gulf.

The class has strict rules of dimension, 22 metres (75ft) long with a sail area of 278 square metres (3000sqft), but there is room to play around.

Particularly on the bottom, and so enter the skirts.

Each day the yachts are lifted out of the water and put on the hard, complete with skirts to hide the keel and any other appendages syndicates do not want the others to know about.

But last month TNZ launched their latest boat, NZL-81, and raised eyebrows by keeping the skirts on even in the water. Not until well out on the course and with considerable effort, does it come off.

The business of keels has been crucial in America's Cup racing in part technology and part bluster. In 1983 Australia II, armed with a revolutionary winged keel, defeated the US Liberty to remove the cup from the US for the first time since 1851. Australia kept skirts on until a big unveiling after they won.

Dockside gossip says NZL-81 has two rudders, one near the bow and the other aft.The advantage would be the ability to make very tight turns in the 10 minute pre-start jostles in which many of the one-on-one races are won or lost.

It could be a big gamble: in the last series four years ago the Swiss syndicate had a boat with two keels which they admitted was "a revolutionary loser".

Now Italy's Prada syndicate is taking out their Luna Rossa ITA-80 with skirts on until well out to sea.

Highly-fancied Swiss Alinghi Challenge boat has gone along with fashion although skipper Russell Coutts told Yachting World he thought skirts were a waste of time.

"It's pretty easy to evaluate what another boat might have under the water just by looking at what they've got above it," he said.

Racing begins on October 1 with the nine challenging syndicates competing for the Louis Vuitton Cup which gives the holder the right to challenge TNZ in the 31st America's Cup in a best of nine races starting February 15.

The Seattle Yacht Club's OneWorld Challenge entry goes into the regatta on minus-one point having been found to have offended race rules. Led and funded by billionaires Craig McCaw, who made his money on telecommunications, and Microsoft's Paul Allen.

The syndicates each have two boats, except Italy's Mascalzone Latinio which has one, and each day they are out in the Gulf squaring off against each other.

Among them is Team Dennis Conner, led by the only man to have ever won, lost and won the cup again.

However in July he suffered the indignity of having his newest boat, USA-77, sink off California. It has been recovered and is having a new bow put on. Last week his other yacht, USA-66, ran aground outside the Viaduct. No damage, beside dignity.

Britain's first foray into the America's Cup since 1986, the GBR Challenge, launched its boat, GBR-70, Wight Lightning, in Auckland last July.

Sweden's Victory Challenge is trying to stay on track after the death of syndicate head Jan Stenbeck in August. The team is conducting in-house racing with its new boats, Orn SWE-63 and Orn SWE-73.

The French Le Defi Areva syndicate has met GBR in friendlies. The British won two of the three races but Pierre Mas of Le Defi said they had yet to display their full potential.