Yachting: We've got Team NZ's number

By SUZANNE MCFADDEN

If you believe Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts, it is still all in the wind.

But the consensus on the water yesterday is that 60 will be New Zealand's lucky number in next week's America's Cup.

Coutts says the Kiwis have yet to choose which of the 2000 generation black boats they will sail against Prada's ITA45 in the best-of-nine match.

The New Zealanders do not have to make their preferred boat known to the world until Monday. But you can bet your Prada handbag that it will be their second boat, NZL60.

The world's yachting press were invited out to watch the black boats in a couple of short races on the Hauraki Gulf yesterday.

NZL60, with Coutts at the helm, won them both in a solid 18-knot breeze - but apparently that's not always the case.

NZL57, with young back-up skipper Dean Barker driving, has won half of the races in the last few weeks - or so the crew tell you.

Coutts only grinned when asked if he knows, in his own mind, which boat will defend the Cup.

"We're looking at the long-range forecast, and we'll choose the boat that is best for the conditions we expect on the first day of racing," he said.

But the America's Cup is not won in a day.

There was little for the spectators to glean from yesterday's show. Barker and his young guns were soundly beaten in one of the starts, but kept pace with Coutts' crew - most of them '95 veterans - in the other.

Both boats were powered by old sails, with the best ones already packed up for the big day next Saturday.

Team New Zealand used umpires standing at the back of their boats yesterday, a Kiwi innovation they hope Prada will agree to for the match. The Italians will try it out in practise tomorrow.

As the black boats were sailing home, they crossed paths with the silver streaks - NZL57 and ITA48 side-by-side for a few glorious minutes.

But it would be futile trying to pick who was faster - they were simply brushing shoulders.

Coutts was all smiles at the end of the sailing day, but admitted there was a bit of worry about his boats' performance in light airs.

"We're concerned about a couple of things, but we've still got time to make improvements," he said. "Last time we started slow downwind and ended up faster downwind.

"Do we think we have all the answers? No we don't. But we're pretty comfortable where we are."

Will the chosen boat be so much faster than Luna Rossa, as Black Magic was over Conner's boat in '95? "Definitely not," said Coutts. "They have a damn good boat, and a damn good crew."

And the Italians have had a lot of breath-taking races in the last four months. Still, the New Zealanders reckon their own private races have been just as close some days.

Barker has proved himself to be a worthy opponent for Coutts, three times world champion matchracer. Good enough, Coutts says, to take over the wheel if the master is not on song.

While Barker said yesterday he would not be sailing on the boat in the match, Coutts wasn't so certain.

"If I'm not up to scratch, or get ill or injured ... he will be more than capable of stepping into the role," Coutts said.

"He's been excellent. I see him at the helm of New Zealand's America's Cup boats in the future."