Yachting: Team NZ sailors set to do some beating

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Team New Zealand's sailors have started work for the next America's Cup, eggbeaters in hand.

The crew kicked off their sailing programme yesterday, but today they will have their stamina tested in an 11-hour mystery fitness test. All they have been told is to turn up with gumboots, a mountainbike and an egg beater.

Even new helmsman Bertrand Pace, due from France today, will be put through his paces.

Yesterday the crew sailed against each other in a mock matchracing grand prix on the Waitemata Harbour.

Team NZ skipper Dean Barker split the crew into six teams who battled it out in the MRX matchracing fleet.



The new-look crew now numbers 31, with four top dinghy sailors the latest recruits.

New Zealand's Olympic 49er crew Dan Slater and Nathan Handley have signed up for the middle of the boat, and Finn sailors Joe Spooner and Ian Baker are the new grinders.

Next week the international schedule picks up with crew members heading to Miami for a Farr 40 regatta. They will then assemble a crew to tackle the Sydney-Hobart race on Boxing Day on Shockwave.

Herald Online feature: America's Cup