Catastrophic end to Team New Zealand's first race

5.00pm UPDATE

Team New Zealand withdrew from race one of the 31st America's Cup this afternoon after two serious gear failures only minutes into the race.

Although NZL82 appeared to be as fast as Team Alinghi's SUI64 off the starting line, and held the favoured right hand side of the course, problems were soon apparent aboard the black boat as it sailed to windward in a fresh breeze.

First there was the shocking sight of a New Zealand crewmember attempting, in vain, to use a bucket to bail out the boat's cockpit while seas poured over the lee rail. It is unknown whether some of the water made its way below deck, placing heavier loads on the hull and rig of NZL82.

Then the tip of the carbon fibre boom, including the outhaul car, broke off, causing the mainsail to lose shape and slowing the boat.

That was followed a few minutes later by the loss of the boat's genoa. It appeared the tack of the sail broke, causing the entire sail to tear out of the headfoil.

The crew attempted to hoist another headsail, but it too came out of the headfoil when it was only part way up.

At 1.40pm, 25 minutes after the race had begun, Team New Zealand called in the support boats and withdrew from the race, leaving their Swiss rivals to finish the six-leg race alone.

Alinghi, led by former Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts, completed the course unchallenged to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-nine series.

They need four more victories to win the America's Cup, while Team New Zealand needs five wins to retain the Auld Mug.

With the victory, Coutts sets a new record for the most consecutive race wins in the America's Cup. Coutts has won 10 races in a row at the helm of an America's Cup yacht dating back to 1995. He breaks Charlie Barr's record of nine straight wins through three Cups between 1899 and 1903.

The two yachts had been racing today in winds of 19-23 knots, which was stronger than would have been permissible under the rules of the challenger series which Team Alinghi won convincingly.

Both boats had, however, been practising in winds as high as 30 knots, so today's equipment failures aboard NZL82 were a surprise.

After Team New Zealand withdrew, the Alinghi crew eased up to protect their boat, opting to sail the downwind legs without a spinnaker.

The last time a defender withdrew from a race in the America's Cup Match was in 1920. Resolute retired from a race against Shamrock IV when the throat halyard, controlling the inboard end of the gaff supporting the mainsail, broke in a squall.

Ten years after that, challenger Shamrock V withdrew from Race 3 against defender Enterprise when its mainsail halyard broke.

Race 2 is scheduled for 1.15pm tomorrow, and the conditions are forecast to be lighter than today.


RACE COMMENTARY - LATEST UPDATE ON TOP

Finish

* Team Alinghi finished alone, to win the first race in the best-of-nine America's Cup series.

Marks 2, 3, 4, 5

* Alinghi rounds the marks alone, using only genoa and mainsail.

Mark 1

* Team Alinghi rounds the first windward mark while the wounded NZL-82 wallows in a choppy sea far behind. The New Zealand crew are still struggling to recover the genoa which came out of the headfoil. The tip of the boom on NZL82 is also broken.

First windward leg

* Team Alinghi must still sail all the way around the course to claim victory in race one.

* Team New Zealand has been forced to drop its genoa due to an unknown problem aboard NZL82.

* At the first cross, Team Alinghi passes clear ahead of Team New Zealand and tacks onto starboard. Team New Zealand is hampered by the loss of its mainsail outhaul and is still shipping water, with crew using a bucket to bail the cockpit.

* As the boats approach for the first cross, Team New Zealand has suffered a serious mechanical failure, breaking the tip of their boat's boom and thereby losing outhaul tension on the foot of the mainsail.

* Team New Zealand tacks onto starboard. Alinghi, still on port, appears able to cross clear ahead.

* Team Alinghi tacks onto port. Team New Zealand still bailing the cockpit of NZL82.

* Team New Zealand tack onto port - a relief, no doubt, for Team Alinghi who were being pushed far out to port.

* The boats seem to have little difference in speed, as they gradually converge with both on starboard tack.

* A Team New Zealand crew member has been bailing with a bucket as the lee rail of NZL-82 is submerged.

* A small left-hand shift helps Alinghi close the margin slightly to about 6m.

* Team New Zealand is pointing slightly higher and extending its lead to about 18m.

The start

* Team New Zealand's NZL82 appears untroubled by foul air in its position on the hip of Alinghi SUI64, and looks to be in good position to defend the favoured right-hand side of the course.

* Both boats start on starboard tack at speed, with Team New Zealand to windward, and about 8 metres ahead.

Pre-start

Five minutes before the start, the yachts steered through choppy seas to enter the start box with a southerly wind (190 degrees) at a steady 19.5 knots.

Team New Zealand, flying the blue flag entered from the port end of the start line. Anlighi, flying the yellow flag, entered from starboard.

Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker went quickly into a dial-up position but Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts opted to circle in an apparent attemt to get under Team New Zealand.

At 1.10 to go, Team New Zealand attempted to hook under Team Alinghi with the boats needing to kill time.

The right-hand side of the course looks to be favoured.

The send-off

About 5000 people gathered at the Viaduct Basin in Auckland this morning to catch a glimpse of the America's Cup crews as they left their docks between 9.30 and 10am.

Hundreds of spectator craft and two large cruise ships waited to greet the yachtsmen just outside the Viaduct.

The southerly wind of 18-23 knots is stronger than would have been acceptable during the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series. In the America's Cup, however, there is no official wind limit. It will be up to the principal race officer to decide whether conditions are safe and fair for racing.

At this stage it is expected that the first race in the best-of-nine series will begin on schedule at 1.15pm.

The forecast for the Hauraki Gulf, issued at 10.26 this morning, was for fine weather and southwest winds at 20 knots, easing to southerly 10 knots this evening. A moderate sea will ease.

Principal Race Officer Harold Bennett of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has selected a rendezvous point near the north/northeast corner of the blue race circle, in the middle of the inner Hauraki Gulf.

Team New Zealand's yacht, NZL82, will fly the blue flag. Team Alinghi's SUI64 will fly the yellow flag.

The Team New Zealand crew, announced this morning, features many sailors making their America's Cup debut.

The New Zealand Herald website will carry continuous updates throughout today's race.

Skipper Dean Barker has selected Adam Beashel, Peter Evans and Hamish Pepper as his afterguard. Design team member Mike Drummond will be the navigator.

Evans is easily the most experienced of the three afterguard members. The 42-year-old has three previous Cup campaigns under his belt, Team New Zealand in 2000, and Nippon Challenge in 1992 and 1995.

He represented New Zealand in the 470 class at two Olympic Regattas (Los Angeles, 1984 and Seoul, 1988). He also won the Match Race Worlds in 1992, sailing with Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts.

Pepper, 34, is Barker's oldest friend. The two were schoolmates on Auckland's North Shore and later sailed Sunbursts together on the Westlake Boys High School team.

Since 1997, Pepper has been Barker's tactician for their match-race team. During the 2000 Team New Zealand defence, he was tactician for Barker on the trial horse. Because he and Barker go back such a long way, communication comes easily to them.

"We think very much the same way," says Pepper. "Sometimes, you don't really have to say anything to know exactly what the other guy is thinking. We can both be pretty aggressive at times and I guess when that happens we calm each other down a bit."

Beashel is in his second Cup campaign, but in the limelight of the Cup Match for the first time. Beashel, 34, was aboard oneAustralia when it sank during the 1995 Louis Vuitton Cup off San Diego.

His family is loaded with sailing experience. Father Ken Beashel is a two-time world 18-foot skiff champion and brother Colin is an Olympic Star Class Bronze medallist and world champion.

Of Team New Zealand's 16 crewmembers, five have sailed in previous Cup Matches. Skipper Barker, 29, sailed NZL-60 to its Race 5 win in 2000, ensuring New Zealand as the first country other than the US to successfully defend the Auld Mug.

The most experienced member of the crew is mainsail trimmer Tony Rae, 41. He competed in all 10 of Team New Zealand's Cup races in 1995 and 2000. He's credited with the idea of bringing the top mast backstay forward behind the rig while sailing upwind to reduce windage.

Runner/pitman Barry McKay (35) sailed in all five Cup Match races during the 2000 defence. Grinder Chris Ward (33) was aboard for Races 4 and 5 in 2000. Trimmer Grant Loretz (38) sailed Race 4 in 2000, while Drummond (40) sailed Race 5.

A new line-up graces the foredeck. Jeremy Lomas (31) makes his Cup Match debut as bowman. Mid-bowman Matt Mitchell (31), mastman Nick Heron (30) and pitman Jared Henderson (30) also are green to the Cup Match.

Legendary bowman Joey Allen, 45, is still a member of Team New Zealand but is sailing on the tune-up yacht. He was bowman in 1995 and mid-bowman in 2000.

The rest of the crew – grinders Jono McBeth (29) and Rob Waddell (28), and trimmer James Dagg (32) – all are competing in their first match.

Alinghi's crew contains many of the individuals who helped it win the Louis Vuitton Cup last month against Oracle BMW Racing.

Skipper Russell Coutts, 40, is looking to break a 100-year-old record for most consecutive victories by a helsman. If he can win today, it'll be his 10th win without a loss and will break the record of nine straight set by Charlie Barr between 1899 and 1903.

He's backed up by tactician Brad Butterworth (43), strategist Jochen Schuemann (48) and navigator/syndicate founder Ernesto Bertarelli (37).

Dean Phipps (38) and Curtis Blewett (30) man the foredeck. Francesco Rapetti (37) is the mastman and Josh Belsky (36) the pitman.

Enrico de Maria (26), John Barnitt (41), Pieter Van Nieuwenhuyzen (31) and Dominik Neidhart (34) are the grinders. Neidhart is the only new addition to the list, replacing the injured Christian Karcher.

Simon Daubney (43) is the upwind trimmer and Richard Bouzaid (37) the downwind trimmer. Warwick Fleury (41) is the mainsail trimmer and "Captain" Murray Jones (45) the mainsail traveller operator and wind spotter.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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