Thinking small to aid Cup effort

By Scott MacLeod

HAMILTON - More than a thousand yachts took to the Waikato River yesterday in a novel boat race that was part of the buildup to this year's America's Cup.

But these were no mega-million-dollar highly tuned jobs - they did not even have sails. Instead, they looked more like the plastic bathtub variety.

The yachts, dumped in the river from the Claudelands Bridge in Hamilton, were part of a fundraising bid by Team NZ's sponsors.

Each yacht bore a different number that had been doled out with $6 and $10 support crew packs sold at WestpacTrust. The yachts "raced" to Day Park, where officials armed with nets laboriously retrieved them all and thus preserved the spiritual and ecological purity of the river.

The owner of the winning yacht scored a day's launch excursion on the Hauraki Gulf watching challengers for the America's Cup race in the Louis Vuitton series.

Earlier yesterday, about 70 people had watched as the boats were dumped into the river. Twenty similar races will be held throughout the country.

Profits will go on items such as sails, food, fitness and strategy.