Team New Zealand boat may have extra rudder

The America's Cup defender has gone to great lengths, even by cup standards, to hide the yacht's hull shape and undersides since its official launch last week.

The yacht has been sailing daily on the Hauraki Gulf but leaves the Team New Zealand base each day shrouded in a skirt that only comes off moments before the boat begins its sailing trials.

International designers have theorised that a successful two-rudder configuration could be a huge asset in cup match-racing, particularly during critical pre-start manoeuvring.

A yacht with two rudders, one aft and another near the bow, would supposedly turn on a dime. Until now, no one has harnessed that technology with complete success.

Designers have toyed with that technology in previous cup regattas - in 1992 and again in 2000 when the Swiss yacht FAST2000 had two keels, one acting as a rudder.

The Swiss yacht, bright yellow in colour, became the famous lemon of the regatta. While it was reported to have great straight-line speed, it lacked manoeuvrability and its crew had trouble coping with its complex steering system. The underfunded Swiss bowed out of the cup when they broke their only mast, prompting skipper Marc Pajot to joke that if his team had invested in two masts and one keel, they might have been more successful.

Team New Zealand designers have hinted the most interesting feature of their new cup yacht might be below the waterline, but spokesman Murray Taylor had no comment yesterday.

It rocked opponents in the 2000 cup with a so-called millennium rig, a mast design that maximised rigidity and lowered wind resistance.


- STAFF REPORTER, AGENCIES