By JULIE ASH
Team Dennis Conner helmsman Ken Read said he was "blown away" when he first saw Syndicate Row after arriving in Auckland.
Read is here for the Steinlager Line 7 Cup, the fourth round of the Swedish match-racing tour which starts off Hobson's Wharf today.
"Our humble little abode, down the end, looks very small and is definitely not the fanciest compound around," said Read, who was the Stars and Stripes helmsman in the last challenger series.
"But once it is fixed up it will do the job."
Team Dennis Conner are one of only two syndicates who have not trained in Auckland over the summer, the other being the French entry Le Defi Areva.
"A lot of it comes down to the budget and logistics. If we had an unlimited budget we would have been sailing for the last two years like Prada, Team New Zealand and everyone else.
"Our summer is just starting back home so sailing is pretty good.
"We could come down in August or September or leave it till the last minute - we are still working it out."
Like Read, Le Defi Areva's Luc Pillot, who is also competing in the cup this week, said he was taken aback with some of the syndicate bases.
"We are very impressed," he said. "We are training in Lorient at the moment and we aim to be in Auckland in August."
Le Defi has been the centre of attention after receiving major backing from French nuclear company Areva.
"It is not the team's problem. The team is just grateful to be here and sailing in the next America's Cup," he said.
Read and Pillot are two of eight skippers who were invited to compete in the match-racing regatta.
The others are:
Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge)
Peter Holmberg (Oracle Racing)
Jes Gram-Hansen (Denmark)
Dean Barker (Team New Zealand)
Gavin Brady (Prada)
Rod Davis (Prada).
Ed Baird (USA), Andy Green (GBR), Paolo Cian (Mascalzone Latino) and Ian Walker (GBR) qualified in the feeder series.
"It is good to get away from the monotony of testing America's Cup boats," Read said.
"It's a great field and that's why we come to these things. You are sailing against the best in the world."
Barker, the Team New Zealand skipper, said his team had had little time to prepare for the event, but he is hoping they will get into the swing of it quickly.
"It sharpens the skills, but at the same time it is a distraction from the cup. We have to keep our focus on our new boats and what they look like.
"We'd love to win it, but it's just like any of these events you go to, it's who's clicking on the day."
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Syndicate Row blows racers out of the water
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