At last it's showtime

By Suzanne McFadden

Picture the wealth of the Italians next to the relative poverty of the Australians. The cheerleading of AmericaOne compared to the silence of Nippon. The stealth black of Young America to the blazing yellow of America True.

The secrecy of the traditionalists to the new expose-all style of Stars & Stripes, Le Defi, Young Australia and the Japanese.

These are the contrasting faces of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series – not just a boat race to find an opponent to try to wrestle the Auld Mug off the mighty Team New Zealand.

For five months, the gulf will host a sporting event the likes of which have never been seen before in this corner of the globe.

It is the quest to win the world's oldest sporting trophy, the America's Cup.

Up to 10,000 spectator craft of all shapes and sizes will swarm like bees around the duelling yachts.

A multitude of the world's rich and famous will pop downunder for a few days out on the water on their mind-boggling superyachts, to be part of the first major sporting event of the new Millennium.

And the unique cup village – where the defender and the challengers are cosy neighbours – will set downtown Auckland alight.

The entire America's Cup regatta – from round one of the challengers' series to the cup match in February – is an investment in Auckland's and New Zealand's future.

More than 65,000 international tourists are expected to pour into the city during the cup. Around 100 mega yachts will fill the harbour, hosting wealthy VIPs galore.

Over 200,000 Kiwis from south of the Bombay Hills will come to the city of sails to grab a piece of the action.

All of the research points to a boom – but it all hinges on how long New Zealand can hold on to the Auld Mug.

It took New Zealand 10 years, and four challenges, to win the 148-year-old silver ewer.

It was a relatively short assault when you remember the New York Yacht Club held it for 132 years before another gritty nation from Downunder stole it away.

The Australians, however, failed to successfully defend it.

To win the America's Cup, a challenger must first win the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The difference in speed between the 11 challengers with their new "Generation 2000" cup boats is a mystery until they pair up on the Hauraki Gulf for the first time next Monday. That is, of course, if Auckland's volatile weather compromises.

Three years ago, Sir Peter Blake predicted a challenger fleet of between 11 and 13.

Up until a month before racing began, there were 13 – but the Russians and a second French team floated away on a spring breeze.

Not surprisingly, the Americans have the strongest showing in Auckland, with five rival campaigns.

The New York Yacht Club, who polished the Auld Mug for 132 years, are back with a vengeance after a 13-year absence.

The Hawaiians have entered the fray for the first time – skippered by the man who drove the last New York effort off Fremantle, John Kolius.

The land-locked nation of Switzerland are also first-time challengers, under cup veteran Frenchman Marc Pajot.

And it wouldn't be an America's Cup without the king himself, Dennis Conner, back for an eighth time with just one boat, the stunning midnight blue racer Stars & Stripes.

Before the starter's gun, there are four frontrunners for the favourites tag – Italy's $100 million Prada, Paul Cayard's AmericaOne, New York's Young America and the dark horses, Nippon of Japan.

They are all two-boat campaigns, having built boats to cope with the different weather ranges Auckland can experience over a summer – or even a day.

Half of the teams will be home for Christmas. The other half will see the new Millennium in the day before the semifinals begin.

In the true tradition of the America's Cup, where nothing is as it seems, six boats – rather than the traditional four – will sail off for a place in the final (just two boats, we're assured).

The stretched-out semifinals are to make sure that the right challenger is found to take on Team New Zealand.

The challengers are united in one goal – to wrest the Auld Mug off the Kiwis.

Team New Zealand won't be resting on their winch handles while the challengers go head-to-head.

They will be slogging it out on the course next door, in their own home-made battles between the two new Black Magics, NZL57 and NZL60.

While TNZ decided to go without a defence series, they are all too conscious of the fact that their opponent in the cup match will have had around 60 races to their zero when they line up on February 19, 2000.

Until racing begins, no one knows how fast their boat really is.

Technology has taken another leap forward since 1995. Boats have changed above the water, rather than below.

Many have left their boats naked – dropping the cumbersome skirts which once hid their underwater appendages, and stripping away some of the secrecy synonymous with the America's Cup.

The cyber-world has made a quantum leap forward too, for the benefit of cup enthusiasts.

Fans will be able to follow racing live on the Internet, with the boats tacking and gybing in astounding 3-D graphics.

New Zealanders are about to be hit by a world of big bucks, psychedelic spinnakers, grunting grinders and often bitter sporting politics. After four years' waiting, it's time to hoist the mainsails.