Off course: Stars take water taxi

Joe and Jane Normal are not the only ones trying to get closer to the super-rich superyacht fraternity. The Viaduct Harbour's Yellow Boat Taxi service reports a steady stream of notables wanting a nosy peek. Among the passengers have been All Blacks Ritchie McCaw, Jonah Lomu and Simon Maling, actor Sam Neill and former Silver Fern Bernice Mene.

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Organisers hope the America's Cup doesn't end the weekend of February 22-23. Apparently that is not a good time for a ceremony at the Viaduct as it is low tide and there is a fear the yachts may run aground. Meanwhile, United States audiences cannot understand the fuss over ship-jumpers Coutts and Butterworth. A CNN poll asking where an America's Cup sailor's loyalty should lie found an overwhelming 52 per cent opting for the team ahead of country (22 per cent). Career and self rated 8 and 18 per cent respectively.

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To coincide with the finals of the America's Cup, a group of 40 sailing enthusiasts from the long-established sailing club at Seaview on the Isle of Wight have shipped two containers of sailing dinghies to race in Auckland. The Seaview dinghy is well known in Britain as a one class clinker-built boat. Observers will see 24 colourful sails on the inner harbour over the next few days. Racing starts today, with the prizegiving on Thursday.

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Shipping news: What will $124 million buy you in Katana, the no-longer-wanted plaything of Oracle mogul Larry Ellison? Her two 5000-hp Deutz-MWM diesel engines plus an 18,500-hp GE turbine will push the boat to a top speed of 35 knots, as long as you're in the 10m depth needed to get the jets started. The towering boat boasts a two-storey apartment for its owner, a television lounge with a giant plasma-screen television and a basketball court. Katana (sword in Japanese) may be 13 years old but still ranks among the 40 largest superyachts in the world. Ellison wants something bigger.

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Prediction: Team New Zealand 5-2. Oracle BMW Racing tactician John Cutler believes Team New Zealand will hold on to the Auld Mug. "I think Team New Zealand is going to be really hard to beat. Dean [Barker] and his guys have been around a long time. They have done a lot of racing, they have been successful on the match-racing circuit and I think they are going to do well. Team New Zealand have the home town support and they have been here the longest and they started with the two best boats in the world in NZL57 and NZL60. That advantage is going to be hard to overcome."

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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