'Awesome experience' auction to help Team NZ

By ALAN PERROTT and JULIE ASH

Raising enough cash to defend the America's Cup is a white-knuckle experience for Team New Zealand's Ross Blackman.

The defenders' chief executive yesterday hung 200m off the ground to promote their on-line auction and inspect the largest America's Cup logo in the country.

The giant logo, made of adhesive vinyl, will grace the Viaduct side of the Sky Tower until the America's Cup regatta finishes in March next year.

The tower will also be lit by yet-to-be-announced Team New Zealand colours when cup racing begins in February.

Blackman kept a tight grip on the railing of the tower's maintenance unit as it swayed in the breeze, but later said the experience was "bloody awesome".

A similar one-hour ride is now being auctioned for next March when the logo comes down.

Team New Zealand hope the online auction will add about $500,000, less than the cost of a new mast, to their coffers. The team's estimated budget is about $80 million.

The auction has raised about $200,000 since it began on September 20.

Bids can be made on the syndicate website, www.teamnewzealand.com.

In July, Blackman said the team had raised about 95 per cent of their budget, which is about twice that of the last defence.

Yesterday, Team New Zealand also announced a sponsorship deal with Fisher & Paykel that included a financial contribution and appliances for the team base.

Team New Zealand chef Gretel Jack, 29, was particularly grateful for the appliances - she is responsible for cooking breakfast for about 40 crew members every morning.

Breakfast starts with fruit, cereal and yoghurt, before a second course that varies from day to day, ranging from fish and pasta to beef, french toast and blueberry pancakes.

Jack has been in the job for four months and consults fitness trainer David Slyfield and dietitian Nikki Hart on what to prepare.

Jack, a self-taught cook, initially told her old schoolmate Team New Zealand grinder and Olympic rower Rob Waddell that he was crazy when he suggested she apply for the job.

"I told him there was no way I could cook for 40 people," she said.

While Jack has mastered that skill, she is still coming to grips with just how much the grinders eat. "They eat twice as much as everyone else."

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