Young America cuts trialling time fine

By Suzanne McFadden

It will be just like Christmas.

Young America's sailors won't get to see their America's Cup boats until the wrapping is peeled off in Auckland next month.

One of the New York Yacht Club boats is now on her way to New Zealand, and the other is due to leave the construction shed, shrouded in plastic, within a fortnight. While the crew have had a major say in what the boats will look like, according to skipper Ed Baird, they haven't seen the finished product yet.

It also means the crew won't sail the new generation boats until a month before the challenger series. Baird says he doesn't have a problem with that.

Yet other syndicates have had boats in the water for at least a month already.

Prada have had both their yachts trialling in Italy for two months; the Hawaiians, French and Spanish are not far behind and America True are three weeks into two-boat testing in Auckland.

"It would be nice to have months of additional preparation time on the water, but the trade-off is that you take those months away from your boat designers," said Baird.

"Most of the teams, except for the Italians, have been trying to catch up to what we did the first year, when we were testing two boats. It takes a while to figure out how they fit together." (Young America trialled two old cup yachts off Rhode Island and Auckland).

The New York crew will be reuniting in Auckland after a couple of months sailing on other projects around the world - and living all across the United States.

"We just can't get together for a meeting," Baird said. "We live in California, Michigan, Florida, New England and Texas."

Baird will spend just one day in his newly renovated house in Florida before flying out to Auckland.

There have been plenty of rumours about Young America's budget worries, but Baird says they are okay.

"We've got well-enough to get us all the things we need.

"But the funding drive is definitely not finished. I think we're like all the teams, except Prada."