Yachting: Veil of secrecy surrounds Alinghi mast

Alinghi is taking America's Cup intrigue to new heights with secrecy over its mast.

When the slick racing yacht pulls into the dock there are sails cleverly packed to hide the lower section of the mast underneath the deck.

While it may appear everything is open for show during the lead up events to the 2007 America's Cup, there are some things teams are trying to kept under wraps.

Whatever the secret is, the Swiss are protecting it fiercely.

During the last cup they were the innovators of the twisting rig, a concept designed to help reduce the wind resistance of the mast.

It is possible that what they are hiding is in relation to that or they may be trying to stop their opposition figuring out what structure they have inside the boat.

Then again, this is the America's Cup and they may be hiding nothing and are simply creating speculation as to what they might have.

Secrecy and the cup go hand in hand. In 1983, Australia II went to extreme measures to hide their radical winged keel.

With a skirt, which covered the boat when it was being hauled to and from the water, security guards were hired after speculation that their rivals had employed scuba divers to try to catch a glimpse of the structure.

Twenty years on teams are still keen to protect their secrets, however the introduction of the cup pre-regattas, where the yachts are lined up side by side for all to see, has allowed every team to take a long hard look at their rivals' equipment.

"We sit there and the boat is photographed every time we launch it; every time we take it out," said Alinghi tactician Brad Butterworth.

"All the parts of the different teams' boats are on show so it should bring the teams closer together which really is what the sport needs."

Eighteen months out from the next cup it is not in anyone's best interest to bring out their heavy artillery yet, however teams are trying out little things here and there.

To win yachting's greatest prize, syndicates will be looking for improvements across the board - in hull shape, rigs, sails, fin, bulbs, wings and rudders etc.

However with few changes to the design specifications, there is more emphasis on rig and sail development and the interaction between the two.

From a spectators point of view it is difficult to identify differences in those areas.

With the rig you can see the number of spreaders and the shape of the bat wings on the top spreader.

What you can't determine is how stiff the rig is, in which places there is more stiffness than others, how much tension there is and how much pressure there is underneath. There are also different shapes and subtitles to the aerodynamics, which are almost impossible to detect and varying rod sizes, which hold the mast up.

Sail shapes are impossible to hide. Teams are trying various profile changes in their mainsails and jibs and in recent years mainsails have got much bigger in the top of the sail, to the point where the sail is projected out so much by stiff carbon battens, that it is more rectangular than triangular in shape.

How teams set their sails is also of interest to their rivals. Teams photograph their opposition from chase boats and get some insight into how the boat is being sailed.

While teams may reveal a few more things next year already there is much debate about whether the challengers will race their new boats in next year's regattas in Valencia.

Although most teams will have launched one new boat by then, there is concern about showing their hardware too soon and Alinghi, who aren't expected to launch their new boat until later in the year, getting an advantage.

Then again if everyone is sailing in their new boats at Valencia, why not use them?

Emirates Team New Zealand sailing manager Kevin Shoebridge believes it is a dilemma some challengers are grappling with.

"Some of these guys will have to use their new boats if they feel like they are that far off the pace already.

"You are not going to sail a slow one when you have got a faster one on the beach, especially if you have got another one coming."

* Former Team New Zealand tactician Hamish Pepper has decided to stay with Mascalzone Latino. Pepper had his contract with the syndicate terminated citing differences with the syndicate heads. However, he has now decided he would like to remain with the Italian challengers.