Hyped hula sinks without trace

By JULIE ASH

When word spread that Team New Zealand's yachts were sporting radical hull appendages, many assumed it meant the America's Cup was staying put.

But Team New Zealand find themselves 3-0 down already in the first-to-five series, which has made the hula's effectiveness a major issue.

"It's quite obvious that all the hype about the features on the Team New Zealand boat haven't really come true," said former Prada designer Doug Peterson.

"It is a fast boat, but it obviously isn't this thing that they said was going to sail off in front of everybody."

The hull appendage, known as the hula, fits snugly against the hull. Its aim is to increase the waterline length of the boat and therefore its speed, but its downfall is that it can produce drag, especially in light conditions.

Before the match, Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker and syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg stressed that the hula was not the team's ticket to success. But 3.9 million New Zealanders disagreed and were adamant that the Black Boat was a rocket ship.

"It is just one aspect of the design. There are pluses and minuses in different conditions," Schnackenberg warned.

But after three races in a variety of conditions - heavy, light and medium - many Team New Zealand fans are still waiting for the hula to kick in.

It was expected to hit its straps in moderate-to-heavy conditions, but in race one, when the wind was more than 20 knots, the water poured in and the boat nearly sank.

"It has sailed in all conditions now and I can't see any big advantages up or down wind," said Prada tactician Torben Grael.

While it is probably safe to assume that the hula is contributing to the overall speed of the boat, and it is a relief for Team New Zealand that NZL82 is on a par with Alinghi's finely tuned SUI64, one certainty is this Black Boat definitely does not have the speed advantage that NZL60 enjoyed in the last defence.

Which means races will be decided on who places their boat in the best position on the course - something Alinghi's Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth and Jochen Schuemann are masters at.

Sweden's Victory Challenge designer Mani Frers said it was important to remember that the hula was only one part of the whole boat package.

"The boats are pretty close but we might see something more from Team New Zealand. A better performance maybe," Frers said.

"The boats have their own comfort zones so it just depends on how they are raced."

Although there is nothing special about the Alinghi boat, Frers said it was a well thought-out yacht.

"It is quite radical on a number of the performance aspects of it. They have clearly chosen to go down a path which is different to all of the other challengers. Team New Zealand have gone a different path again and it is interesting that the boats are so different but so even.

"Team New Zealand probably have a tad more sail area but to get the most out of the hull shape, Team New Zealand need more sail area and more power."

Race four is scheduled to start today at 1.15pm. Racing is doubtful as organisers have predicted 25 to 30 knot winds.

Meanwhile, Schnackenberg yesterday dampened suggestions he should jump aboard NZL82 today.

He has a lengthy and successful America's Cup background and is into his eighth campaign. Asked whether it was time for more experience at the back of NZL82, Schnackenberg said a change would not provide a quick fix.

"It would take a while before that would have a positive impact," he said.

"There may be several races."

He said the reason was that the combinations between Mike Drummond, Peter Evans and Hamish Pepper, in the afterguard with skipper Dean Barker, were getting better all the time.

He admitted that, with only in-house racing as preparation, Team New Zealand had gone into the showdown "cold".

"It is tough," he said. "If you look back, you will recall Alinghi, even though they had done really good preparation, had a couple of problems in their early racing."

Continuous coverage of today's America's Cup race will begin on nzherald.co.nz at 12.30pm.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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