Swiss leave NZ in search of moolah

By Suzanne McFadden

The Swiss have pulled out of next week's America's Cup dress rehearsal, finding francs hard to come by.

Their late withdrawal has left three challengers for the Road to the America's Cup regatta on the Waitemata Harbour.

The Swiss Fast 2000 team leave Auckland on Saturday after a fortnight training in their yellow boat.

Helmsman Jochen Schumann said the Swiss supported the idea of the regatta promoting the America's Cup, but they had decided training alone would give them more value for their money.

"If we had the money that the richer syndicates have we'd probably do both," he said. "But we have to prioritise what money we have.

"We've had very good sparring sessions with AmericaOne and America True. In the end we've spent our time as we wanted to.

"With the Road to the America's Cup you have to follow the rules of the regatta. There are only two boats and four teams so there is a lot of sitting around waiting.

"For sure we'll get more sailing time for our money spending two weeks training than one week in the regatta."

The campaign's skipper, Marc Pajot, had not come to Auckland on this trip because he was trying to raise more money in Europe.

But building began last week on the syndicate's new boat, which will be launched in Auckland in August.

Regatta spokesman Murray Taylor said it was disappointing to lose a team, but they were sympathetic to the Swiss situation.

America True, Italians Prada and the French syndicate Le Defi - who were called Yaka when they sailed in Auckland last year - will now have four round-robins of challenger racing starting on Tuesday.

The winners of the series will sail against Team New Zealand in a best-of-nine final next weekend.