Fearless bowmen defy death for the good of their cause

SUZANNE McFADDEN continues her series on the people that make Team New Zealand tick.

Joey Allen jokes that it is the most terrifying job on earth - clinging on to the mast for dear life in whipping winds, 30m above the surf.

"It's petrifying - but it's still very exhilarating and very demanding," said the Team New Zealand mid-bowman.

It is also a death-defying feat. Sailors have died at the top of the mast.

In the 1995 America's Cup in San Diego, a Stars and Stripes bowman was knocked unconcious when he went up to release a sail, lost his grip and swung into the rigging.

Bashed around like a rag doll, the sailor was hoisted to the top of the mast while the other bowman, who had already been brought down violently seasick, had to go back up to save him.

The jobs on the bow are arguably the most physically demanding on an America's Cup boat.

A bowman must be quick - on his feet and in his thinking - have excellent balance and be as agile as a monkey.

Allen, a carpenter by trade, manages all this at the tender age of 42. A round-the-world sailor, he made his cup debut at 37.

The bow is not the most pleasant spot to work. Allen is sometimes down below decks in the dark, knee-deep in water, trying to stuff an 80kg wet sail into a little bag.

"It's weird down below," he said. "You have to have good balance because you don't know when the waves are coming. When I first started, I was flipping over, doing somersaults, when a big wave hit."

The bowman also has to muscle the awkward spinnaker pole into position. "It's a real challenge when you have this huge pole coming at you - I've seen it knock out teeth and break noses."

There is no rest for the bowman. They have to quickly and neatly hoist and lower sails at each end of the race course. The faster they do it, the bigger tactical advantage their boat has over the other.

The quicker they get the sail down and tidied up, the sooner they can help to grind in a tacking duel.

"If a bowman makes a mistake, the whole world sees it, and people talk about it for weeks afterwards," said Allen.

Allen knows that he is by no means guaranteed a starting spot on the boat this time. Team New Zealand have some of the world's top bowmen - Dean Phipps, who has been involved in four America's Cups, Nick Heron, a three-time cup- per, and Matt Mitchell, a Kiwi who sailed on One Australia in 1995.

"I'm helping the young guys now," Allen said. "If they have to beat me to get the job, it's all the better for Team New Zealand."