Yachting: President and Oscar in Cup limelight

By Suzanne McFadden

What do President Bill Clinton, Oscar the dog and a Swiss yacht have in common?

They all made grand entrances into the America's Cup carnival in Auckland over the weekend.

The World's Most Powerful Man stepped on to a cup boat for the first time yesterday, and was given a tour of Chris Dickson's old yacht by the five American challenger syndicates.

Oscar, a mongrel mutt who has been adopted by the Hawaiian Abracadabra 2000 campaign, arrived in Auckland with the syndicates' colourful pair of boats on Saturday.

And the Swiss yacht, Be Happy, touched down at Auckland Airport last night, after the Russian Antonov aircraft carrying her was given special permission to land during the logjam of Apec.

The massive freight plane had to make a quick turnaround to avoid getting in the way of VIP aircraft taking international leaders home. Fast2000's yellow boat was put straight on a truck and driven to Westhaven late last night, where it will be finished off in a boatyard.

Hawaii's boats arrived by more conventional method, on the back of a container ship.

The uncovered hulls moved through downtown Auckland in a motorcade to rival Clinton's, showing off the whale and dolphin murals on their sides.

More wildlife came with the Hawaiians - in the form of the team dog.

Oscar is what is described in Hawaii as a poi dog - a mixed breed - who was found on the side of the road by one of the team members and has since been adopted by the campaign.

While the crew were trialing USA50 off the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Oscar was a regular sight on the boat or in the tender. He has been made "chief of security" in the syndicate.

The Abracadabra boats will spend the next few days in their shed in the cup village before setting sail. The second boat, USA54, has yet to touch the water anywhere in the world.

Clinton has never sailed on a big racing yacht before, but happily turned the winches on America True's training boat and discussed the complexities of a cup boat with representatives from the five United States syndicates - including skippers Ed Baird, from Young America, and True's Dawn Riley.

Baird was impressed with the President's "sincere interest" in the America's Cup.

"He's a very engaging man," Baird said. "He said he had always wondered what kept the boats from falling over with all the sail area, so I explained how a keel worked."

It was the first time an American president has been to an America's Cup site since John Kennedy in 1962.