Gossip a lot more fragile than yachts

By HELEN TUNNAH

Speculation and rumour might have Team New Zealand's black boats near sinking, but NZL81 and NZL82 were sound enough to sail in brisk breezes and choppy seas on the Hauraki Gulf yesterday.

The New Zealanders stayed out on the Gulf training even after their fourth race against America's Cup challengers Alinghi was called off because of unstable - not light - winds.

While the Swiss team came back to base, Team New Zealand decided to work out some cobwebs in winds that reached 16-20 knots.

After the disastrous start to the America's Cup on Saturday, when race boat NZL82 was forced out of the contest after taking water and breaking gear and NZL81 was mysteriously damaged, the airwaves and Viaduct have been awash with talk about the boats' fragility.

Team New Zealand has declined to say what happened to NZL81 and will not comment on speculation about the race boat, including claims that it has a cracked deck.

Privately, commentators have said safety alone meant NZL82 would not leave the dock if it were structurally damaged.

Huge loads are placed on a boat during racing, and any breakage could be catastrophic.

When NZL81 returned to base on Saturday, the mast was removed and maintenance carried out until Monday, when the rig was put back in. The boat sailed on Tuesday.

No one from the team will say what repairs were needed, or how or when the boat was damaged.

Much of the talk has suggested the boat may have had a crack in the deck, in a similar area to that affected on Young America, which buckled and almost sank during the challengers' regatta in 1999.

By Tuesday, the chatter was that NZL82 had also suffered structural damage in the form of a cracked deck or hull in Sunday's race - sailed in very light breezes and on flat seas.

That has now extended to claims the race boat is structurally unsound and not being sailed to its potential by a fearful crew.

There are suggestions the boat has delaminated, that engineers from the North and South islands are working on it, and that teams of boatbuilders have worked desperately all night, every night, since Sunday, but no one has noticed.

By yesterday, it was said the two boats were damaged before Saturday's race, when they smacked into each other. Apparently no one on the 2500 spectator boats saw a collision.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

Racing schedule and results