Team
New Zealand to Sail NZL 82 (02/10/03) (source
: Louis
Vuitton Cup)
Team New Zealand’s designers and sailing team have
chosen NZL-82, the latest black boat to be built, as
its race boat for the best-of-nine America’s Cup Match
against Alinghi.
The Defender and the Challenger for the America's Cup
can nominate just one boat for the Match. The Swiss
challenger, Alinghi, must race SUI-64, the boat it sailed
to victory in the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Team New Zealand principal designer Mike Drummond says
there was little to choose from between NZL-82 and her
older sister NZL-81 when making the final decision.
"We created both boats with some deliberate differences,"
he said. "After a while of sailing them together we
decided we preferred ‘82’ to race against Alinghi."
Skipper Dean Barker says he would have been happy to
race either of the boats. "They're a little different,
but they're both very good boats," he said.
In recent weeks, Barker has been at the wheel of NZL-82
for in-house racing against Team New Zealand back-up
helmsman Bertrand Pacé, on NZL-81. But the skipper says
he was happy to swap between the two boats during trialing
over the last four months.
"From day one the boats were nice to sail," he said.
"The most nerve wracking time is when you first put
any new boat in the water. You always hope they aren't
going to be slower than the last boat. That wasn't an
easy task as NZL-60 was a very fast boat. Well, we're
happy to say, 81 and 82 certainly aren't slower."
Unveiling day begins early on Tuesday. Team Alinghi
will reveal the latest configuration of SUI-64 at 08:00
at the Alinghi Base in the American Express Viaduct
Harbour. Gates open to the public at 07:45.
The gates to the Team New Zealand base will open at
08.45 on Tuesday morning. The public will be able to
see the NZL-81 in all its glory before it leaves the
dock around 10.30.
Pressure
on Team NZ said Ian Walker (02/07/03) (source
: BBC)
GBR Challenge skipper Ian Walker said that Barker's
young crew could be affected by a lack of recent competitive
experience when racing gets under way in the Hauraki
Gulf.
"Dean Barker and his crew are no rookies - they have
been training for three years and their starting and
crew work should be exemplary," Walker said. "But they've
not been in the heat of battle and pressure does funny
things to people."
"If it's close I'd go with Alinghi because they have
got guys at the back who know how to win, and have experience
of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Arguably they've got less
pressure on them".
"TNZ are quite a young team and if the first start,
first shift or first race goes against them, the pressure
will build up quite rapidly."
But the British yachtsman admitted that Team New Zealand's
training could ultimately prove more valuable than Alinghi's
better race experience.
"Alinghi have raced day-in, day-out but TNZ's in-house
races are probably three times as valuable," said Walker.
"Alinghi have been substantially better than the other
boats in the Louis Vuitton Cup and many races were just
a sail around, which is almost a wasted day for them".
"Meanwhile, Team New Zealand may have done four practice
starts and raced at close-quarters against their training
boat."
"So TNZ should be race sharp, and clued up on tactics,
crew work and strategy, but the big difference is pressure.
It's different when your are coming into the start line,
you're live on television and there are 1,000 boats
watching you. Things go on in your mind and if you don't
control that you're trouble."
However, Walker says that the decisive factor in the
best-of-nine-race regatta is likely to be the speed
of Team New Zealand's controversial boat.
"There's no gauge as to how fast TNZ are," said Walker.
"But I suspect they know how it will go, and I suspect
Alinghi have no idea".
"Everything from the outside points to Team New Zealand
being pretty comfortable. They have got the hull appendage
which circumvents the rules to such an extent that they
should have a much faster boat."
"The fact they've got it on both boats suggests they're
pretty confident it's a step forward. And if so, then
it's hard to see how Alinghi will counter that."
The
double "A" Team New Zealand (02/06/03) (source
: Team
NZ)
Tom Schnackenberg believes all 36 sailors in the
Team New Zealand crew would do their country proud in
the America's Cup. The defender of the silverware has
a blend of experienced hands and eager young sailors
on the decks of NZL-81 and NZL-82, and there is definitely
no "B" crew in the ranks.
"It's an essential part of the success of our programme
to have two A crews," Team New Zealand head Schnackenberg
says. "The racing we have between the two boats in the
only racing we get until we are in the Cup for real.
It's been very successful, very intense."
The nine challengers in the Louis Vuitton Cup made a
pact that they would not sail against Team New Zealand
until the America's Cup.
"We believe the whole squad is capable of forming two
A crews, and any one of them could give a good account
of themselves in the America's Cup."
As was the case in the 2000 America's Cup defence, Team
New Zealand does not have a set-in-concrete 16 who will
race in the best-of-nine match. Schnackenberg says the
crews on NZL-81 and NZL-82 are often mixed to try different
combinations.
"Apart from Dean Barker, who stands out as skipper,
there is really no distinguishing between the 36 guys,"
Schnackenberg says.
He and other experienced team members have been impressed
with the way the new young sailors have grown in skill
and confidence over the past two years.
"We have seen some of the young guys improve in a big
way. It's really refreshing to see," he says. "That's
one of the exciting features of the development of this
team."
"I think if we are successful, if we can keep the same
group of guys - which I'm certain we can - we will be
very formidable as a group going forward."
Team New Zealand crew :
Bowmen : Jeremy Lomas/Richard Meacham
Mid Bowmen : Joe Allen/Nathan Handley/Matt Mitchell
Mastmen : Nick Heron/Carl Whiting
Pitmen : Jared Henderson/Craig Satterthwaite
Runner/Pit : Barry McKay/Erle Williams/Winston Macfarlane
Grinders : Ian Baker/Jono Macbeth/Chris McAsey/Joe Spooner/Rob
Waddell/Chris Ward
Trimmers : James Dagg/Daniel Fong/Zach Hurst/Grant Loretz/Carsten
Schon
Mainsheet Trimmers : Tony Rae/Chris Salthouse
Afterguard : Adam Beashell/Tom Dodson/Peter Evans/Clay
Oliver/Hamish Pepper/Dan Slater
Navigators : Mike Drummond/Tom Schnackenberg
Helmsmen : Cameron Appleton/Bertrand Pacé
Skipper/Helmsman : Dean Barker
(Here is an excerpt from the story posted by OneWorld
Grinder on the Stuff.co.nz website about the Team NZ
crew in the best-of-nine final series which starts off
Auckland on February 15).
Dean Barker, less than two weeks out from the start
of the America's Cup, will have nutted out his No 1
crew at Team New Zealand.
Right now, he needs to be racing with that crew so the
guys can iron out any niggles. They need to be put under
pressure by the back-up boat which is incredibly valuable
in the run-up to the first race.
I will be intrigued to see the make-up of the crew when
the Black Boat heads out on February 15.
Wherever possible, I am sure Barker will opt for experience.
He will want to surround himself with sailors who he
knows can handle the pressure. But there will also be
sailors who will be having their first cup race.
The trick will be to ensure he mixes up the experienced
yachties with the enthusiastic newcomers. I see it as
bigger than 2000 because their opponent is Russell Coutts
and Alinghi and the opposition is quality. Getting the
mix right in areas like the bow and the grinders will
be important.
If Matthew Mitchell is the man on the bow, it will be
his first time in the America's Cup and he will carry
huge responsibilities.
I would like to see Joey Allen in the midbow position
even though he says he is too old and carrying too many
niggles. He is the kind of person you want to be in
the thick of the action when you are heading out for
a tough battle.
It's the same story in my old area of grinding. I like
the chances of Rob Waddell being on the boat. With Waddell
being an Olympic and world champion in rowing, he obviously
has the big event temperament. I am sure he is dying
to get out there in race one after working at his new
job for two years.
The ideal situation among the grinders would be to have
an experienced yachtie who would act as a grinder leader.
Probably the person who best fits the bill is Jonathan
Macbeth. He would have done the most hours on cup boats
but he hasn't actually done a race.
The other option would be to use Chris Ward as a grinder.
Chris was a grinder for two races in 2000 but that would
leave Barker looking for a mast man and that is a key
position.
In the afterguard, I expect Hamish Pepper will handle
the boat-on-boat tactics and Peter Evans will concentrate
more on the wind shifts. I am sure they will be fine
in the afterguard where there is a lot of experience.
Evans isn't that well known outside yachting circles
but he is certainly rated and interestingly he has sailed
with Coutts. He is strong and a bit of a harbour master
who knows the Hauraki Gulf inside out and who has grown
up in the area.
Rod
Davis joins Team New Zealand (01/29/03) (source
: Team
NZ)
Team New Zealand has invited adept matchracer Rod
Davis, a veteran of nine America's Cup campaign, to
spice up its sailing in the final days leading up to
the America's Cup match. He will sail with Team New
Zealand in its intensive in-house racing programme.
Davis, who was the starting helmsman on board Luna Rossa
in the Louis Vuitton Cup, has coached and sailed with
America's Cup crews since 1977.
Now, he will add his weight to the afterguard of Team
New Zealand, helping to tune up Team New Zealand skipper
Dean Barker and his crew before the best-of-nine Cup
match begins on February 15.
"Rod is going to do some sailing with us to add some
variety to our in-house racing," Barker said. "At this
stage of the campaign it is great to be able to introduce
a new sailing style in the final build-up to the Cup."
Rod Davis had a similar role in Team New Zealand's programme
in San Diego in 1995. He was helmsman on board OneAustralia
before being beaten by Team New Zealand in the Louis
Vuitton Cup final, then helped prepare Russell Coutts
and his crew for the 5-0 drubbing of Team Dennis Conner.
Nine America's Cup with four countries ("loyal"?)
:
- 1977 : bowman with Lowell North on Enterprise (USA)
- 1980 : coach for Australia 1 (AUS)
- 1983 : mainsail trimmer and sailing program coordinator
for Defender (USA)
- 1987 : skipper and helmsman of Eagle (USA)
- 1988 : coach for New Zealand in 1988 (NZL)
- 1992 : skipper and helmsman of New Zealand (NZL)
- 1995 : Sailing Director and Helmsman of OneAustralia
with John Bertrand (AUS)
- 2000 : coach of the Prada team (ITA)
- 2002 : starting helmsman on board Luna Rossa (ITA)
Spurn
the dust to win the prize... (01/26/03) (source
: NY
Times)
The defining moment of Team New Zealand's current
America's Cup defense took place not on the water or
at some high-tech tank-testing facility, but at a bare-bones
motel on the island of Waiheke off Auckland.
It was in the summer of 2000, just a few months after
New Zealand's 5-0 sweep of the Italian team Prada in
the America's Cup that year. Crowds jammed Viaduct Harbor
to cheer the team as national heroes when they won the
Cup in February. But by summer, it had all come apart.
Team New Zealand was in debt, while the lineup for the
next Cup included men with bottomless pockets: the billionaires
Larry Ellison, Ernesto Bertarelli and Craig McCaw.
To make matters worse, those billionaires had hired
30 of Team New Zealand's best sailors, including Russell
Coutts, the two-time Cup-winning skipper, and his tactician,
Brad Butterworth, who joined Bertarelli's Swiss team,
Alinghi.
So with a new-age management consultant as a guide,
the Kiwi team went to Waiheke for two days of exercises
aimed at exorcising what the yacht designer Clay Oliver
called "all the old baggage.".
"Jump to a new curve" became the mantra for Team New
Zealand's designers for several months. Though the phrase
smacks of new-economy earnestness — a variation on "thinking
outside the box" — it had real implications for the
way an America's Cup team operates.
The result is the most radical design innovation for
an America's Cup boat since Australia II's winged keel
in 1983: the Hula (short for hull appendage), a 20-foot-long
clamshell that attaches beneath the back of the boat
and has the effect of lengthening the waterline, which
in theory should make a boat faster.
Actually, the Hula is only the most prominent of a series
of developments by the Kiwi team that have served to
take the Cup competition to even greater levels of obsessiveness.
Team New Zealand tried to jump the curve wherever it
could.
We figured there might be opportunities in every aspect
of the campaign," said Tom Schnackenberg, a nuclear
physicist-turned-sailor for Team New Zealand.
In the past, it took the team an hour and a half to
launch its yachts each morning. The team came up with
a new skirting method and simplified crane system that
cut that time to 30 minutes, which meant more time on
the water.
And there are other innovations on board: a superlightweight
boom, a four-spreader rig, an extra-long bulb at the
bottom of an extra-thin keel.
The difficulty of being the America's Cup defender is
not knowing how those innovations stack up against the
competitors'. Alinghi has been racing since October
— the team lost only 3 races out of 26 on the way to
the Cup final — while Team New Zealand has been practicing.
The team invited a few reporters along for a training
session last week and had trouble with two spinnaker
hoists in a moderate breeze. A fast boat could buy a
margin for such errors, but Team New Zealand only knows
how fast it is against itself.
"The sailing team prepares on the assumption that you'll
be racing an even boat," Schnackenberg said. "If it
turns out you do have a fast boat, that's good news.
If you have a slow boat, there's not a lot you can do
about it but be dignified about losing."
Chris
Bedford joins Team New Zealand (01/23/03) (source
: Team
NZ)
Five-time America's Cup veteran meteorologist Chris
Bedford - he started his career with Dennis Conner in
Fremantle in 1986 - joins the Team New Zealand announced
Defender's Website today.
Bedford, who hails from Boston, spent the last few years
working with German sailing team illbruck, calling the
weather and guiding them around the globe to win the
Volvo Ocean Race last year.
When illbruck's America's Cup campaign folded, Bedford
began working on projects for Team New Zealand and Swedish
syndicate Victory Challenge. Now, the Swedes were eliminated
from the challenger series and he joined Team New Zealand
full-time.
Bedford is the defenders' second meteorologist, working
side-by-side with chief met-man Roger "Clouds" Badham.
American Bedford says he and Australian Badham are like
chalk and cheese, which makes for perfect weather analysis.
We really compliment each other. Eighty percent of the
time we agree what the weather's going to do, and the
other 20 percent we think quite differently," Bedford
said. "That really adds value to the team".
"On those days when it looks pretty tricky, we
weigh up all the factors that will influence the wind,
and having two people on the job gives a fuller perspective
of the weather", he said.
It's necessary. Headed by Jon Bilger, the Alinghi weather
team of 8 take were one of the mains factors that has
been instrumental in Alinghi's success on the race course.
"Loyal"
flags follow in red socks' steps (01/22/03) (source
: NZ
Herald)
Last America's Cup it was the red socks campaign.
Now Team New Zealand has embarked on a new campaign:
$10 "loyal" car aerial flags.
The famous socks, used as a tool to raise funds and
national pride during the past two regattas, are not
being sold this Cup after the murder of syndicate head
Sir Peter Blake.
But a public fundraising campaign has begun, with the
sale of "loyal" flags which are part of Team New Zealand's
advertising campaign promoting key crew who stayed with
the team, turning down lucrative contracts with foreign
syndicates.
The sale of the flags, which fit on to car aerials and
cost $10, was announced a day after the Swiss team Alinghi,
brimming with New Zealand talent, won the right to challenge
Team New Zealand for the Cup next month.
Half the proceeds from the sales will go to Team New
Zealand. The rest of the money will cover manufacturing
costs.
