The brains trust Team NZ is counting on

By JULIE ASH

With fickle, shifty conditions expected to dominate Valencia during the next America's Cup, the performance of the afterguard will be crucial.

Joining Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker and Australian-born traveller Adam Beashel this time are British Finn gold medallist Ben Ainslie and Americans Terry Hutchinson and Kevin Hall.

Terry Hutchinson, tactician

Considering his parents used sailing as a kind of punishment, it is surprising that he likes the sport.

"My parents had a cruising boat and when I was a kid and they got sick of me they put me in our dinghy and tied me to the back of our boat and let me sail around back and forth all day long," he said.

"I really liked it. Sailing for me was one of those things where I could get away from my brother and my sister. It allowed me a little freedom."

Hutchinson, who grew up in Annapolis, has a long history in the 420 and J24 classes. He was chasing a spot in the star class for the Athens Olympics but required surgery to his arm last year, which ruled him out of the American trials.

He sailed with America One in the 2000 Cup and Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes in the last Cup.

He contacted Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton last year inquiring about a job in the afterguard.

"For me it is an awesome opportunity because the team is very well established. I make my life as a professional sailor and so I need to be involved with a team that was going to have an opportunity to win."

After barely a week with his new syndicate, Hutchinson said the vibe was good.

Ben Ainslie, strategist

He is the talk of the sailing world and thankfully Britain's Ainslie will be sailing for Team New Zealand.

Arriving in Valencia fresh from his gold medal-winning performance in the Finn class in Athens, Ainslie has been called one of the best intuitive sailors around.

A shy but extremely determined character, his win in Athens brings his Olympic medal tally to three after a silver medal in the Laser class in 1996 and a gold in the class in 2000.

He was the International Sailing Federation's sailor of the year in 1998 and 2002.

Ainslie got a taste of America's Cup racing in the last Cup where he worked for OneWorld for a year before quitting to concentrate on his Olympic campaign.

His association with Team New Zealand came after he hooked up with Barker to compete in last year's Bermuda Gold Cup.

"The team here, the setup and the all-round sailing team, design team and management team seem really good. Certainly the whole thing is based around trying to get the Cup back in New Zealand and that is great. I am happy to be a part of it," he said.

While it is his long-term goal to be at the helm of a Cup boat, Ainslie is content with his role as strategist.

"That is my ultimate ambition [to be at the helm] but in terms of this campaign, Dean [Barker] is the helmsman and the skipper and it is really my job and the whole team's job to support him as best we can.

"But in saying that I hope I get the opportunity to do some helming and see how that goes."

Kevin Hall, navigator

Hall is accustomed to looking at the big picture and already he is starting to see the chemistry building in the team's new-look afterguard.

Hall, who sailed with OneWorld in the last Cup, says the shifty, uneven breeze expected in Valencia will challenge the smartest of afterguards.

However, forming a competitive brains trust is not as easy as hiring the best people in those positions, he says.

"I think on paper you can put together a group of guys and think they are all very good at their jobs but they might not necessarily click.

"There is a certain chemistry aspect and personalities are better suited to some jobs than others. "Everyone has to speak up firmly at the right times but you have to get quite comfortable with the others to do that."

Hall joins Team New Zealand fresh from the Olympics where he competed in the Finn class alongside Ainslie and Barker, finishing 11th.

"I started 470s in 1989 just because I think the Olympics are a special part of the sport and I changed classes a lot, which has meant it has taken a little longer to make it to the Games, but I think I'll keep my Finn and try again."

The next Cup will be Hall's third. He sailed with America One in 2000 and OneWorld in the last Cup.