Dalton keen for afterguard to show form at Valencia

By JULIE ASH

Emirates Team New Zealand's new hot shot afterguard will have their first workout at the second and third America's Cup pre-regattas in Valencia next month.

Team New Zealand's participation in the regattas was in doubt after their race yacht NZL82 was damaged in a storm after the first regatta in Marseille. But the syndicate has flown NZL82's sister yacht, NZL81, to Valencia

Team New Zealand finished third behind Oracle and Alinghi in the opening regatta in Marseille. They were without British Olympic Finn gold medallist Ben Ainslie and American Terry Hutchinson, who will join the team in Valencia.

"Having observed the opposition in Marseille from close quarters, I am convinced that an effective afterguard will be a major factor in success at this America's Cup," said Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton. "We are very keen to get Ainslie and Hutchinson on the water with Dean Barker and the others in an uncompromisingly competitive environment and Valencia is the only opportunity we have this year.

"At Marseille we started the process of rebuilding the sailing team and assessing NZL82's performance against Alinghi and Oracle. We achieved 80 per cent of our objectives."

NZL81 was loaded into a British-built Shorts Belfast turbo-prop cargo plane yesterday. It was a tight fit, with just 20mm to spare on top and 100mm lengthwise.

NZL81, which nearly sank two months out from the last cup and then broke down during the cup where its job was to warm up NZL82, has been strengthened, although it is not yet race ready. Dalton said they hoped to have NZL81 on the water on October 1, four days before the regatta started.