Yachting: Crews put the wind up owners

Emirates Team New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images

With the sou'westers booked in to stay on the Waitemata Harbour for the rest of the Louis Vuitton Trophy, crews are being reminded to take care of the boats they're borrowing.

They are not being asked to sail with kid gloves, but Principle Race Officer Peter Reggio has warned that if there's significant damage to the two Emirates Team New Zealand boats, the regatta is in trouble.

Reggio made the call to abandon racing early yesterday with the threat of 30-knot winds. But the forecast is for solid but very sailable southwesterly breezes for the next week.

The news comes as a double-edged sword for hosts Emirates Team New Zealand.

Their yachts will sail around 55 races in this 12-day regatta and, in the first few days of racing, their shore crew has worked late into the night fixing damage, especially to NZL92.

It's only natural there will be breakages when you have crews sailing America's Cup boats with completely different gear systems to what they're used to. But if there are serious wounds to one of the black and red yachts, there's only one reserve boat - BMW Oracle's USA87.

"On one hand, we love seeing the boats getting into some great action out there in a decent breeze," says Team NZ's operations manager, Ian Stewart.

"But the breeze is one thing; the way crews handle it is another. The boats are pretty well set up. But no matter how good your gear is, if you have some late mark roundings, or if the boats are pushed a bit too far, there are going to be consequences."

Racing the Louis Vuitton Trophy on short courses - with legs of 1.4 nautical miles - and the strong tidal flow inside the Waitemata, puts pressure on the crews to make snap decisions (which have been known to snap bits off boats).

"These are two of the toughest weeks our guys will have ever had to face," says Team NZ shore manager Andrew Nottage.

Today's forecast is for a soft breeze in the morning, picking up to between 15 to 20 knots. Weatherman Roger "Clouds" Badham predicts the south-westerlies will continue to roll in until the end of the regatta next weekend, bringing winds in the mid-to-late teens.

He says: "When people ask me 'what's it like for the boats?' I say it's spectacular. It's just not so great for the boat owners."

TODAY'S RACING

Louis Vuitton Trophy, Auckland

* Round-robin, day 3
(from 10am)
* All4One v Emirates Team NZ
* TeamOrigin v Aleph
* Azzurra v Artemis
* Mascalzone Latino Audi v Synergy