Yachting: Challengers on gulf already

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Anonymous under a coat of white paint, the first America's Cup challenger for 2003 is already out sailing on the Hauraki Gulf.

Oracle Racing, the American campaign bankrolled by the world's second-richest man, Larry Ellison, has begun its summer testing on Auckland waters.

The stark white boat, alias AmericaOne's USA-61, started sailing again on Wednesday, exactly a year to the day that the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series kicked off on the gulf.

Even though the next cup regatta is still two years away, the Viaduct Basin is starting to stir again. Defenders Team New Zealand are rebuilding their base, while around them the cup village is already booked out.

Oracle Racing are the first in a line of challengers expected to sail in Auckland this summer. At the helm of the white boat yesterday was her former skipper, Paul Cayard, now campaign manager of Oracle Racing.

The syndicate's new skipper, New Zealander Chris Dickson, was on his way to Bermuda for the last of the big match-racing regattas of the year.

Ellison bought the assets of Cayard's old syndicate two months ago, and the boats USA-49 and USA-61 have been sitting in the shed on their Viaduct base since the last cup ended.

The other boat will get wet next month, when Oracle Racing have enough sailors in Auckland to start two-boat testing in earnest.

For now, they have a crew of mostly American and New Zealand sailors, who have set up home in an inner-city apartment building. The base is abuzz, with the shore crew bustling under a huge Stars and Stripes flag flying from the roof.

The San Francisco-based team want to keep a low profile as they get down to business. Spokeswoman Gina von Esmarch said they had a serious training schedule before the boats are shipped across the Pacific for a season off the Californian coast.

"We will be sailing pretty aggressively here until the end of February," she said.

"We really want to make some headway, and we've got a really good platform to work from with the AmericaOne set-up.

"All of the testing goes towards two new boats, under design by New Zealanders Bruce Farr and Russell Bowler."

There is already activity next door at the Prada base. The Italians arrive after Christmas, after a long season at their Northern Hemisphere base in the seaside resort of Punta Ala.

All of the 11 bases in the Viaduct now have tenants booked for 2002. An unnamed German challenger, rumoured to be round-the-world syndicate Illbruck, has dibs on the site previously occupied by America True.

The Trues have sold their boat to the Seattle OneWorld syndicate, and will not challenge this time, but plan to stick together for the 2006 cup.

Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli and his Russell Coutts-led campaign have taken two neighbouring bases that once housed Nippon and Le Defi France, and another Swiss team, Watch Out, have the smallest base, next door to OneWorld in the old Young America spot.

Sweden's Victory Challenge and an anonymous European syndicate have committed themselves to the last two available bases.

And the king himself, Dennis Conner, will be back in the prime marketing spot at the start of Syndicate Row.

Herald Online feature: America's Cup