Young Guns

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

The new young men of Team New Zealand represent the future of sailing in this country.

There was always the concern that the defence would be a closed shop to Kiwi sailors wanting a crack at the America's Cup, especially when Team New Zealand declared themselves the sole defender days after winning in San Diego.

But TNZ made it an unwritten policy to take on a fleet of promising young yachties, looking beyond 2000 - sailors like Jonathan Macbeth, Cameron Appleton, Dean Barker, Hamish Pepper, James Dagg and Matt Hughes.

Barker, 26, was devastated when he narrowly missed a place in the 1996 Olympic sailing team. After leading the trials in the Finn dinghy, he lost his grip on the Olympic spot on the final day - to fellow Team NZ crewman Craig Monk, the youngest Kiwi sailor in the 1995 challenge.

But Coutts, a long-time family friend, recognised Barker's undeniable talent behind the wheel and sent him out on the world stage - where last year he consistently beat the world's top matchracing skippers. So will he step into Coutts' boatshoes one day in the future?

"I hope he does - that's his ambition," says Coutts.

"That's the really crucial thing - that these guys have ambition.

"We wanted to give them the chance. If they had no chance of getting there what the hell would be the use in trying?"

Twenty-one-year-old Appleton was also given the opportunity to skipper a Team NZ crew on the world circuit. He was hired as the team's chaseboat driver and has moved up the pecking order to work the runners on the black boats.

Appleton's courage alone is enough to recommend him for higher things in the future. He fought back from an horrendous accident on the Hauraki Gulf, having half of his face rebuilt with titanium after being struck by a piece of the boom he was transporting in the chaseboat.

Macbeth is one of the success stories of the defenders before they even race. The Auckland university student and multisport athlete sold a kayak to Sir Peter Blake, who asked him, across the shop counter, if he would like to try out for the crew.

He had no sailing experience to speak of, but his "outstanding attitude" earned him a job as a grinder after a summer's trial.

Says Coutts: "Jonathan is coming along in leaps and bounds. For the first six months many of the crew thought we were wasting our time. Now it's a completely different deal - he's a great asset."

Another grinder, Matt Hughes, is the junior of the team at 19.

Coutts, a former world youth champion, reckons these newcomers in his crew hold huge promise - maybe even more than he once did.

"I think they're more advanced than what I was when I was that young. And they're better sailors than I was," he said.

"They've got more experience now . We were all gaining our America's Cup experience much later in life. What an opportunity for them, coming in and working with some of the best guys in the world and not learning any bad habits.

"These guys can all see a future. They are probably thinking to themselves, `Okay, if I don't sail on the boat this time, I'll definitely be on board in the next campaign'.

"They'll take anything they can gain this time - and we're giving it to them."