Yachting: It's not the looks that count in this contest

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Luna Rossa is beautiful, and Black Magic is ingenious. But it remains to be seen if beauty will triumph in this America's Cup.

David Pedrick, who has designed America's Cup boats in eight campaigns, believes it won't after watching the Kiwis' opening victory over Prada.

He predicts a 5-2 victory to New Zealand because the black boat design team has made major speed gains with its innovations.

"Prada is a beautifully refined design to my eye. It's hard to fault anything," he said.

"The appendages look completely right to me.

"What Team New Zealand has done is go outside the box and into a few areas new and different. They are showing very forward thinking and thoroughness."

American Pedrick, who drew up a series of Dennis Conner boats in previous Cups, reckons the Kiwis have shaved a couple of seconds per mile around the race course.

"It's all small stuff, but if you do it 10 times you're talking about a lot of speed," he said.

"If you have a 20-second built-in advantage and a team that wasn't able to match you all the time, that's pretty nice."

Watching the black boat race for the first time on Sunday, a string of innovations showed their worth.

First, there is the knuckle bow, which makes the boat effectively longer than it appears to the measurement rule - and longer means faster.

"I don't like it at all, but I think it's going to work. I'd be disappointed if that's what we have to draw now, because it's pretty ugly," Pedrick said.

"It might be affected more by the chop than Prada's but it's given them extra sailing length."

And sailing upwind without top-mast backstays supporting the top of the rig reduces drag. It's a sign of Team New Zealand's confidence in their sailing ability that they can toil getting the backstays up and down and still feel happy to take on the opposition in a match-race.

The new millennium mast is stiffer because of its size. "They've been able to get rid of a whole set of spreaders, and with the criss-cross rigging there's less windage and weight," Pedrick said.

There may even be a split second saving with the crew's new aquatech shirts.

Pedrick did not expect the New Zealanders to fare as well as they did in race one in the light winds against Prada. Today's forecast is very similar to Sunday's - 10-15 southwesterly winds.

"But if Prada had successfully crossed to the other side on the first beat, the race could have gone in the other direction," he said.

If the breeze picks up, Pedrick reckons the black boat will "love it - the fresher it is the better it will be for Team New Zealand."

"Before seeing the race I estimated New Zealand would win in seven races, and I still do.

"But I admire the whole programme of Prada. They were able to buy and do all the right things."

The New Zealanders spent yesterday's lay-day out on the racecourse, but were beaten by the winds, or lack of them. Prada sagely decided to stay on land.