KEY POINTS:
It is a sight many New Zealand sailing fans have waiting to see for many years, just probably not the circumstances they would have been hoping for.
Kiwi sailor Russell Coutts will today be back at the helm of a Team New Zealand boat.
But he will do so as skipper of the Oracle crew as part of their preparation for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series beginning in Auckland at the end of January.
Emirates Team New Zealand and BMW Oracle Racing plan to hold a series of practice races aboard NZL 82 and NZL 94 on the Waitemata today.
Though Oracle have loaned their two boats used in their 2007 America's Cup campaign for the regatta, there are no guarantees they will end up racing in their own yachts during the event, which begins on January 30.
The boats for each race will be allocated by a draw at the beginning of each day, and for that reason Oracle, and the nine other teams competing in the event, need to get a feel for both sets of boats.
Team NZ yesterday had their first shakedown in an Oracle yacht, with Dean Barker and his crew training aboard USA-98.
After a few issues early on in the session, including a torn mainsail, Team New Zealand had a much more fruitful afternoon and managed to get in some solid hours of training.
But with winds of up to 20 knots on the Waitemata, both Team NZ and Oracle were reluctant to push the boats too far and the practice races were abandoned.
Oracle tactician and New Zealand Olympic sailor Hamish Pepper said with gear breakages not only very costly but also potentially disastrous for the Louis Vuitton series, they weren't willing to take any risks.
"We were hoping to get in to it with Team New Zealand today but both teams were a little bit nervous about the conditions," said Pepper.
"We don't need to be breaking rigs or booms or anything like that just yet."
Despite the tricky conditions, Pepper said the American syndicate still had a very productive day on the water as they continued to re-learn about the boats.
"We're really concentrating on tidying up our crew-work, just getting our systems and our communications and our manoeuvres sorted and really getting a feel back for the boats - testing its limits," he said.
With fairer weather expected today, the two syndicates plan to carry out a number of pre-starts as well as a few full races on the Team New Zealand yachts.
