Yachting: It's all up to the boys down the back

By JULIE ASH


It can be a cruel game where missing an almost invisible breath of wind or failing to tack or gybe at exactly the right moment can mean the difference between winning and losing races.

In America's Cup yachting, it is the men at the back of the 24m boats who are charged with making such crucial decisions.

For Emirates Team New Zealand, the responsibility will lie with British Finn gold medallist Ben Ainslie, Americans Terry Hutchinson and Kevin Hall and helmsman Dean Barker.

The four will sail together for the first time next week in Valencia in the second and third America's Cup pre-regattas, which start on Tuesday.

With little expected to separate the top boats in the next cup because of the few changes made to the design rules, these four will play a key role in whether Team New Zealand win back the America's Cup.

Ainslie in particular is the man of the moment, having clinched his third Olympic medal in Athens.

A determined, yet quiet character, he has been labelled by some as "the most brilliant instinctive sailor Britain has ever produced".

Hutchinson, who sailed with Stars and Stripes in the last Cup, arrives in Valencia on the back of some amazing success in the Farr 40 worlds.

Calling tactics on a yacht called Barking Mad, Hutchinson and his team won the highly regarded event an astounding 40 points ahead of their nearest rival.

Ainslie and Hutchison will don the Team New Zealand uniform for the first time in Valencia after sitting out the Marseille event.

"Everyone is just talking about Ben, but Terry is very current at the moment having just dominated the Farr 40 worlds," said Team New Zealand's managing director, Grant Dalton. "He was 40 points ahead of the next boat and in that event that is a bloody good result."

In Valencia Barker will be at the helm, Ainslie will be the strategist, Hall the navigator and Hutchinson the tactician. Adam Beashel will also help out in the role of traveller.

"It is going to take those guys a while to fire," Dalton said, "but racing makes you learn quickly. Any racing we can get at the moment is good for us. The problem with testing is that it is fine but you can fool yourself if you are not careful. When you are racing you can't fool anyone you are either quicker or you are not."

In the opening regatta in Marseille, Team New Zealand notched up wins over hot shots BMW Oracle Racing and Alinghi but finished third in the overall standings - not a bad effort considering that just 18 months ago their race boat NZL82 struggled to make it around the America's Cup course.

Dalton conceded that NZL82 was "slightly off" the pace in Marseille and with its sister yacht NZL81, which they will race in Valencia, identical, he expects a similar performance in Spain.

"I thought the other guys [Oracle and Alinghi] probably hadn't stepped out as far as I had expected. Although I think in Oracle's case it was slightly masked because they had been working in version five [the new version of the design rules] and were probably very advanced in version five and they have almost had to come back a step to sail these regattas."

Joining Team New Zealand, Alinghi, Oracle, Le Defi, K-Challenge and Team Shosholoza in the Valencia regattas are Team Luna Rossa (formally Prada) and new Italian challenger +39.

Team Luna Rossa, with their new helmsman Australian James Spithill, are expected to be up there with the big guns in the regattas.

"Team Luna Rossa will be right there," warns Dalton. "Right there."

In terms of Team New Zealand, Dalton will continue to analyse every aspect of his team from the sails to the boat to the crew.

"It is about learning as much as we can about the dynamics of the whole team,

"This is not about having had a good result in Marseille then going on to do lots better because it is the next regatta on.

"It is more from my point of view solidifying what I think we have learned from about the boat because when another set of circumstances and conditions [arrive] you can change your view."

On the race course, he will be making his observations from the pit amid busily packing sails.

The veteran round-the-world sailor is keen to be part of the sailing team and is quite content sailing around in a circle, even if it is a somewhat smaller one than he is used to.

"I am loving it," Dalton said. "It is just fantastic."

Teams in action in Valencia

* Emirates Team New Zealand (New Zealand)

* Alinghi (Switzerland)

* BMW Oracle Racing (USA)

* Team Luna Rossa (Italy)

* +39 (Italy)

* Le Defi (France)

* K-Challenge (France)

* Team Shosholoza (S. Africa)


Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/americascup