Yachting: What NZ want, they get - fast

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Even on the other side of the globe, everything stops for Team New Zealand.

The night after the Kiwis won race two of the America's Cup, they decided they needed a new sail and phoned North Sails in Nevada, deep in the heart of the United States.

The 3DL genoa was made, flown to Auckland and on the boat less than 72 hours later.

Team NZ sail designer Burns Fallow phoned the world's largest sailmaking company last Tuesday night and e-mailed them the design.

"We asked them if it was feasible to do it in a hurry. I'd like to think they wouldn't do it for anyone," he smiled. "They were able to shuffle their own schedule to allow us to do it."

A sailmaker accompanied the headsail - created from three-dimension laminate - from Nevada to Los Angeles and put it on the plane.

At 5.45am on Friday, Fallow received a brief e-mail message: "The eagle has landed.

"I threw it in the back of my car, and it was on the boat by 2 pm," he said.

Team NZ used the new sail on Sunday, getting ready for the race that never was.

It will be the last sail Team NZ will have built for the 2000 Cup.

It remains a secret how many they have had built for this regatta, but the limit in the protocol for the defender is 30.

They usually take 15 sails out on the boat for one race.

"We have a lot more sails than we will use," Fallow said. "We got the latest sail as an insurance policy. We had to be covered in case it blows 10 knots for nine days."

After months of working shifts until 2 am to prepare the sail wardrobe, Team NZ's shore crew have been remarkably quiet since the Cup started.

The only drama was after Saturday's third race win, when they had to sew up a gennaker which tore at the foot during the second run.

"It's no surprise to us that it's been so quiet. We've put the work in to make sure it would be," Fallow said.

North Sails made the sails for 11 of the 12 Cup syndicates in Auckland.

The president of the company is Stars & Stripes tactician Tom Whidden.