Yachting: Cunning plan has sprung a leak

By Suzanne McFadden

The ingenious Swiss have to figure out how to stop the rain from falling inside their America's Cup boatshed.

Fast2000 are the only campaign along Syndicate Row in the Cup village who have built a shed where their boat can go in without having to remove its mast.

The only problem is, they haven't yet devised a way to close the hole in the roof.

Swiss skipper Marc Pajot dreamed up the idea of the slotted roof and monster roller door.

"I cannot understand why others haven't done it," syndicate spokesman Constantin Capsis said. "It looks so obvious that you should put your boat totally inside the shed with the mast on.

"Obviously it's not for everyone. It is more expensive, but once you are in the America's Cup, it becomes a matter of practicality. We wanted to save time and to work in a dry place.

"But the only problem is closing the roof - last weekend we got soaked inside the shed."

This is the first Swiss America's Cup campaign.

While they are known as the syndicate who have had money worries since they began, the Swiss hope they will be remembered in Auckland for touches of brilliance.

No one knows how brilliant their yellow boat, Be Happy, is.

The Swiss have kept to themselves in the build-up to the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series which starts on Monday.

They have kept away from the practice races on the Hauraki Gulf course, preferring to sail alone.

"We want to work quietly to begin with," Capsis said. "We want to try out our new boat instead of having practice races.

"Winning on practice days means you have an averagely good team - it doesn't mean you have the best boat."

Despite their funding problems, when work on the boat stopped for two months, the Swiss believe they may have set a record for creating an America's Cup yacht, from the building of the mould to the boat's launch.

Capsis said: "From the first day of construction [in Geneva] to the day we put it in the water here in Auckland, it was 100 days."