Coutts tries crew combos in mini-cup race defence

By Suzanne McFadden

If you stand on North Head with a pair of binoculars, you can play a game of "guess the helmsman" in the Team New Zealand crew next weekend.

It could be skipper Russell Coutts, or tacticians Murray Jones or Dean Barker.

Team New Zealand will experiment with their crew for the defence of the Road to the America's Cup regatta, and swap the men behind the wheel during the final against the winning challenger. All three sailors have had success as skippers on the world matchracing circuit in the last 12 months.

The regatta will be a change of tack for the defenders, whose emphasis has been on boat technology this summer.

"We've had such a busy time working on the two black boats, we haven't had much time to think about this," said Coutts.

"This is the time of year when we're making the decisions on our final boats, and all the componentry for them, for the America's Cup. So this regatta is a break away from that.

"We honestly haven't focused a lot on the racing side of things this summer. But this gives us the opportunity to do that for a weekend."

Team New Zealand are still some way from deciding who will sail in the America's Cup proper. There is no real urgency to do so, with the defenders not appearing on the race course until February 2000.

"Once we get the new boats, we will become pretty focused on racing," Coutts said.

Since last summer, Coutts has hired a few new young yachties to bolster numbers in the sailing crew. Most of them will get a taste of cup racing this weekend as Coutts shuffles the 16 on board.

"We're starting to get a better capability to race two boats full-on with two full crews. And we haven't changed our objective of developing a broad base of sailors at this level."

It has been a good season for the Team New Zealand guys, who have been hitting the Hauraki Gulf almost every day since the first week of December.

"We've done more sailing this summer than last as part of the design programme. There's been a lot of breeze around," Coutts said.

But they have had their feet on dry land for the last two weeks, maintaining the black and white boats for the Road to the America's Cup.

Unlike the challengers, who will pack up and head home after this regatta, Team New Zealand won't be putting the Black Magics back in their sheds.

"We've got a lot more to do after this. This is an interruption in our programme," Coutts said. "We're looking now at keeping the boats in commission right the way through to the America's Cup.

"Some of the guys will do overseas regattas in the winter. But while there are still things to do, we'll keep the boats racing."

As they did off the coast of San Diego almost four years ago, Team New Zealand have dominated every final of the mini-cup regattas on the Waitemata since.

Pictured: Murray Jones, normally a tactician, could be one of the Team New Zealand helmsmen for next week's Road to the America's Cup regatta. PICTURE / FOTOPRESS