Yachting: Teams resurrect old warhorses for semis

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Asura, the great warrior god of Ancient India, has come out of retirement to sail again in the America's Cup.

Asura, the first boat built for Nippon's 2000 cup campaign, was set aside after the first two rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

But it has been somehow revived, leapfrogging successful sister boat Idaten, to be Nippon's first choice for the cut-throat semifinals starting on Sunday.

After much deliberation further along Syndicate Row, the first Luna Rossa, the most successful generation 2000 boat in the America's Cup so far, has also been given another life by the mighty Prada.

Idaten had the best record of 11 boats in the third round, winning eight from 10. Asura's record earlier on was less impressive, 12 from 20.

Yet skipper Peter Gilmour and his Japanese crew have gone with the original boat, which he claims is that much faster.

"We've made quite a positive modification to JPN44. It's quite an improvement," he said. "It's only logical to use the best boat in the semis."

That has not always been the case. The day before round three began, Gilmour said of the slightly wider Asura: "Unfortunately, 44 has had a few bumps and bruises, so it's a good time to retire her. She's done a good job."

Obviously the doctors at the Nippon compound did a very good job rejuvenating the battered boat.

Life is not over for Idaten either. A similar big change will now be made to JPN52, with Gilmour confidently expecting to use that boat in the challenger final.

It is not known if Prada's first boat, ITA45, underwent any surgery before being sent out for its second tour of duty.

While Prada's designers will argue that both boats are very similar in speed, the second boat, ITA48, suffered more losses (two) from nine races than the first boat did in 20 (one).

Nevertheless, the Luna Rossas have been the top boats of the regatta so far.

Luna Rossa skipper Francesco de Angelis explained that the original silver bullet was better suited to the wide range of competitors it will meet in the top-six semifinals.

If and when Prada reach the challenger finals later in the month they say they would reconsider their choice of boat, based on who their single opponent is.

Over at the trio of one-boat campaigns, there has been plenty of after-hours activity in the sheds.

Le Defi France have made small changes to their boat, Sixieme Sens, which made a huge turnaround in speed in the final round after a series of tweaks.

The one-boaters - America True, Stars & Stripes and Le Defi - have been sparring together on the gulf this week.

* "No" was the blunt answer to all but one of the challenger's queries over nationality issues which were finally resolved yesterday.

The arbitration panel's decisions ruled out AmericaOne's using crew from Young Australia on their B boat, while Stars & Stripes' five inquiries about using people and equipment from eliminated US syndicates were also found to be in breach of the cup protocol.

Only the French got an affirmative answer - they will be able to use the Spanish Challenge's sail loft and some sailmakers.