Yachting: Field has global ambitions

By Suzanne McFadden

Eighty-two-year-old Margaret Field worries about her son, Ross, and his wild sailing adventures.

She's coming up from New Plymouth this weekend to bid him farewell as he sets off on the double-handed Round North Island race from Auckland.

Tales of Isabelle Autissier flipping upside down in the Southern Ocean won't have allayed Mrs Field's worries, either.

So what does she think of 49-year-old Field's plan to build a $US6 million 140ft trimaran and sail around the world non-stop?

"Mum says `I hope you don't get your money'," Field laughs. "I don't tell her half of my hare-brained schemes."

Field, veteran of three Whitbread round-the-world races, is getting more adventurous.

Like fellow Kiwi skipper Grant Dalton, he is devoting most of his days to searching out big dollars to support his dream to compete in The Race - the non-stop big boat circumnavigation in 2001.

He has set himself a deadline of April 30 to find the cash he needs, somewhere around $US10 million, to kickstart his campaign.

"I've got three good irons in the fire," he said. "It's all European money. But I have had some brief talks with someone in New Zealand - it's a long shot but it's possible. So I'm definitely not dead and buried."

Field's last round-the-world race campaign folded after the first leg through dodgy funding, but he was only employed as the skipper, not the fundraiser.

"It was disappointing because the boat was very good. But it was an advantage in some ways because I could come home and get this project underway."

Field already has the plans drawn up for his dream boat - a 140ft trimaran. An English designer has worked on it with help from French engineers. The French are experts on multihulls, so he plans to employ some French sailors to help control the beast as well.

"We could start building this boat in two weeks. We would need to start in May because it's such a huge learning curve with a boat that big. We're going to break a lot of gear testing it."

In the meantime, Field is keeping his hand in on the water. Not a round-the-buoys man, his latest project is the Round North Island race starting on Sunday.

He has paired up with fellow Aucklander Rodney Keenan, who sailed with Field to win the 1997 Fastnet race in England. They will sail Line 7 ABN AMRO, better known as the Ross 12m Pretty Boy Floyd.

"This race is probably the biggest national event on New Zealand's yachting calendar these days," said Field, who first competed in it 17 years ago.

Twenty-three yachts will leave Auckland on the first leg to Mangonui in the Far North. They round North Cape and head for Wellington on leg two, then hop to Napier before returning to Auckland. Field and Keenan expect to be on the water eight to 10 days.

They predict their toughest competition will come from the man who designed their boat, Murray Ross, sailing with Murray Delacy on Revs, Richard Bouzaid and Rob Bassett on Time To Burn, and Peter Lory and Bob Graham on Love A Luck.

Pictured: Veteran round-the-world sailor Ross Field, right, and Rodney Keenan launch into the double-handed Round North Island race this Sunday on Line 7 ABN AMRO. HERALD PICTURE / BRETT PHIBBS