Yachting: Skipper not losing sleep over missing out on bunk

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

It is not quite mutiny on the Pinta, but the skipper of the German America's Cup and round-the-world campaigns has been forced to sleep on a spinnaker by a bunch of New Zealanders taking over his boat.

There will not be enough beds on board Pinta for skipper John Kostecki when the boat starts a double crossing of the Tasman next week, because he has loaded it up with New Zealand yachties.

Five New Zealanders already have sailing jobs with the Illbruck-Pinta syndicate, who will be the first team to attempt the Volvo Ocean Race and the America's Cup.

But Kostecki wants to test two others, Olympian Jamie Gale and matchracer Dean Salthouse, during the Sydney-Hobart-Auckland race which will serve as a dress-rehearsal for next year's round-the-world event.

"So I'm the one who has to miss out on a bunk and sleep on a spinnaker," laughed Kostecki.

The lime-green boat is now in Auckland, docked outside the America's Cup base that Illbruck will call home in 2002.

Kostecki, an American who called tactics for Paul Cayard's AmericaOne in the last cup, is trying to keep the two projects separate. But it will not easy this week, sitting in the middle of the cup village while other cup syndicates are progressing around him.

"It's going to be a handful, but we've got to focus on the Volvo now," he said. "We need to do well in the round-the-world race to help us in the cup campaign."

While Pinta is being touted as the race favourite for the Volvo, Kostecki is not building up their chances for the America's Cup, which starts six months later.

"We're not expecting to be at the same level as Prada, or OneWorld or Oracle Racing," he said. "But this is our opportunity to get into the cup game, and focus on winning the 2006 regatta wherever it will be."

Pinta's cup boat will be built late next year, while Kostecki and the crew are somewhere in the Southern Ocean.

"We're working hard to avoid a situation where we get calls from Germany while we're out there racing - people asking questions about what we want on the cup boat," he said.

Kostecki has done two-thirds of a round-the-world race, but he will be relying on the off-shore experience of the New Zealanders on board - Ross Halcrow, Mark Christiansen, Stu Bannatyne, Stu Bettany and Ray Davies.

The crew spent four months training in Spain on the old EF boats from the last race before shipping the old EF Education (aka "The Girls' Boat") to Perth then sailing it to Auckland.

The trip through the Southern Ocean took a speedy 11 days, with winches and sails breaking as they went. The crew are repairing the boat before they set off to Sydney next Tuesday.

At least four Volvo race entries will start in the Sydney-Hobart on Boxing Day, then carry on to Auckland - the same as the third leg of next year's race.

Herald Online feature: America's Cup