Yachting: Team NZ face tough MedCup defence

Team Origin, skippered by triple Olympic champion Ben Ainslie, is one of four America’s Cup syndicates competing for the MedCup. Photo / Getty Images

Team New Zealand face a tougher battle to defend their MedCup yachting crown than when they won it, with three rival America's Cup syndicates joining the fleet this year.

The five-regatta series, which is raced in TP52s, begins this week with the Portugal Trophy event, in which 11 crews will line up off Cascais from tomorrow until Monday (NZT).

In their first appearance on the circuit last year, Team NZ sailed away with the title, following up a third placing on debut with four successive wins.

But operations manager Kevin Shoebridge said the entry of other America's Cup syndicates made skipper Dean Barker and his crew's task more difficult this time around.

With the next America's Cup not scheduled until 2013 or 2014, Team Origin (Britain), Luna Rossa (Italy) and All4One (France-Germany) have followed Team NZ's lead in giving their sailors competition via the MedCup.

Team Origin, skippered by triple Olympic champion and former Team NZ back-up helmsman Ben Ainslie, have the only newly-built boat in the fleet.

Among the returning crews are the three who finished immediately behind Team NZ last season - Quantum Racing (United States), Artemis (Sweden) and Matador (Argentina).

"Last year was hard, this year will be harder," Shoebridge said.

"With four America's Cup syndicates racing hard and three top teams from last year, we expect we'll have a mighty battle on our hands to retain the title. This is a top-level fleet and we don't underestimate the calibre and strength of the opponents."

Unlike the America's Cup, which is a match-racing competition in larger boats, the MedCup involves a series of fleet races.

Among the changes the organisers have made this year to manage costs is reducing practice time before an event.

They have also cut crew numbers from 15 to 12, which Shoebridge said made for "busy, busy boats".

Team NZ tactician Ray Davies said it would be the "same old story" for the crew on NZL380.

"We need to avoid the shockers and that's what we did do last year - keeping it consistent," he said.

"The level is raised again. There have been configuration changes to boats and so it will be interesting to see how everyone settles out of that."

Davies said Team NZ were expecting windier conditions on the circuit this year, so managing equipment would be a key issue.

"You have to be careful you don't break something because then you miss the next race as well."

With still some time to go before America's Cup preparations begin in earnest, the MedCup is one of three campaigns Team NZ are involved with in the interim.

Barker and his crew are also competing on the Louis Vuitton Trophy circuit, which is sailed in America's Cup-class boats, while the syndicate announced last month that it would enter the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, with Australian Chris Nicholson as skipper.

- NZPA