KEY POINTS:
Considering the current climate of the America's Cup, the sight of an Oracle boat holed up in the old Alinghi base in Auckland's Viaduct harbour with a huge silver fern emblazoned across the stern seems rather incredible.
But the organisers of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, which begins
in Auckland at the end of the month, have always said this is going to be a very different regatta.
An Oracle boat sporting New Zealand insignia is just one of a number of little ironies that will surface over the course of the two-week event.
After weeks of work by the shore crew, the two Oracle boats, on loan from the American syndicate for the Louis Vuitton regatta, and the two Team New Zealand yachts have been fully recommissioned and are ready for sea trials beginning at the end of the week.
All four boats, which have been out of action since the last America's Cup in 2007, have been kitted out in new branding and sponsorship logos for the inaugural regatta which will take place on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour from January 30 to February 14.
But the renovations have been far from just superficial.
Emirates Team New Zealand's chief operating officer, Kevin Shoebridge, said the yachts have been modified to ensure performance will be as close as possible.
"We've tried to simplify them as much as possible," said Shoebridge.
"They've got a lot of complicated systems on them which are prone to breakage if they are not used by experienced hands so we've taken a lot of complication out of it."
"It's a lot of stuff you wouldn't see off the boat like hydraulics and some of the sail-trimming systems. Everyone's got identical spinnakers and they only have one each, so everything's become very, very even."
A draw at the beginning of each day of the regatta will determine which boats each team will race in, but Shoebridge said the boats have been pared back to ensure there is no advantage in any one of them.
"Our two boats are even and the two Oracle boats are even and they will always race in their two pairs, there won't be a Team New Zealand boat racing against an Oracle boat."
Along with the evenness of the boats, Shoebridge said the course design would ensure the regatta would be a test of pure sailing ability.
"Because the race courses are so short - the legs are only 1.4 miles long as opposed to 3.3 - it'll put a lot more emphasis on the start and the first couple of minutes. Boatspeed won't be an issue," he said.
Auckland authorities have given special dispensation for the regatta to be held on the inner harbour, providing a close view of the action for land-based spectators.
"The place we are sailing is by no means the best piece of water, there's actually a lot of tide, it's shallow, it's a shipping lane, there's a lot of current and it's very shifty, so it's all the things that don't make for even racing, but it makes for a great spectator sport."
