Teamwork, camaraderie and professionalism (+video)

Team New Zealand's 70-foot Volvo Open 70-class yacht was put through its paces for the first time from Auckland to Tauranga this week, with Bay of Plenty Times sports editor Kelly Exelby tagging along for an exhilarating ride.

First up, an apology.
Sorry to you dozen or so Tauranga Yacht Club buffs who lined up so breathlessly on Tuesday with the promise of a once-in-a-lifetime sail on board Camper, Team New Zealand's freshly-minted around-the-world vessel. Mother Nature thwarted that one. I'm sorry it blew so hard that your two-hour sail out to Karewa was binned. I truly am, because I'm sure you would have enjoyed the same intoxicating ride I did - had the breeze blown at a sedate 15 knots rather than a 30-knot howler.
Team New Zealand media manager Warren Douglas phoned to say if there was a chance he could talk Camper's Aussie skipper Chris Nicholson into taking me on the first of Camper's open sea trials from Auckland to Tauranga- its longest trip to date.
Now I'll come clean and admit yachting's not really my gig - that much was immediately obvious to the 11-strong Camper crew when, over lunch at the Viaduct on Easter Monday and looking supremely nautical in my team issue wet weather gear, Nicholson's gaze diverted southward, followed by a subtle inquiry about my lack of seaworthy footwear.
I'm not a complete rookie though - my parents once owned a yacht and several years ago I enjoyed the company of Olympian Peter Burling on board his Etchell pottering around on Tauranga Harbour. And just to quell the curiosity of my mates, no, I didn't try and clamber aboard with a fishing rod, a box of beer or an accordion under my arm!
Tauranga was the first port in Camper's PR jaunt down New Zealand's east coast, followed by 2000 nautical miles of trials to prove its race-worthiness.
If Monday's exhibition of teamwork, camaraderie and professionalism was the entree, New Zealanders are in for one heck of a ride when the race proper begins off Alicante, Spain, in late October, finishing off Galway in Ireland in July next year with a three-week stopover in Auckland over March and April.
We sailed south in a consistent 12-20 knot breeze, shadowed by a small flotilla of inflatables and pleasure craft out of the Waitemata towards Rangitoto. Legs braced and locked to the stern lurching with every tack, watching the crew was as if a symphony was unfolding, each sailor instinctively knowing their part as we gunned past Motuihe Island and the back of Waiheke.
Nicholson was first man at the helm, followed by former world matchracing champion Adam Miniprio.
Third man at the helm Tony Rae did three round-the-world Whitbread races when the event was known as the Whitbread. The last two of these were on winning yachts Steinlager II, skippered by Sir Peter Blake in 1989-90, and New Zealand Endeavour, led by present Team NZ boss Grant Dalton four years later. Suddenly Rae thrust the wheel into my hands. I was master and commander of this good ship, albeit for 15 minutes, in the tamest of conditions and with Rae never venturing far just in case I had a sudden desire to play dodgems.
Rae had been stoked when Dalton tapped him on the shoulder last year during the Med Cup. He hopes to maintain an America's Cup run that has seen him at every cup regatta for Team New Zealand since 1986-7 (aside from the big boat v catamaran mismatch in 1988), but is giving his all to Nicholson for the next 16 months.
"With these sorts of campaigns you really can't have any other distractions."
Dalton pre-warned me about the run down the Coromandel. This call was backed up by navigator Will Oxley who, as we rounded Cape Colville, stuck his head out of the hatch and yelled: "Time to turn down boys ... let the dog off the chain!"
Boys with new toys rarely need a second invite. We bashed through troughs, gathering 22-23 knots of boat speed.
Darkness fell; so too did the rain, and we hooked into lifejackets and harnesses for an exhilarating, wild ride down the coast. Nicholson is a stickler for safety - it's not just the $7.5 million Camper he has to get home but a precious cargo of 11 sailors as well.
He knows the perils of ocean racing. In 2005-06, he was watch captain on board ill-fated Spanish entry Movistar. In 2008-09, he was watch leader on Puma, which finished second, although Nicholson was forced to stand down when he injured his anterior cruciate ligament on the race's second leg when a crewmate was flung across the desk into his shin.
"It was quite funny until the pain set in. The guys wanted to take me down below but I told them to put me on the sail stack so I could just look at the sky and breathe for five minutes."
His experience with Movistar underlined the fact that the ocean doesn't play favourites and is a potential graveyard. Movistar was helping in the search a yachtsman until it struck a small problem - its whole bottom structure, including the keel, sheered off. Movistar's crew were rescued by a yacht which had already found the body of Hans Horrevoerts, swept off ABN Amro II.
As Mayor Island came and went in a blur and Tauranga's bright city lights loomed through the murk, Oxley's biggest headache was getting Camper through the harbour entrance and safely to Salisbury Wharf.
Marker buoys and channel lights shimmered as the spinnaker fell and we edged closer under mainsail.
Oxley tapped into my local knowledge and asked which route I'd recommend. "Stay right of the big hill," is all I muster. Oxley shakes his head and manages a wry smile.
I'm home, in one piece after 12 hours on the water, and in need of a hot shower.
But with utmost admiration for the skill I've seen on board Camper.
Camper crew (NZ unless stated)
Chris Nicholson (skipper, Australia), Stuart Bannatyne (watch captain), Will Oxley (navigator, Australia), Roberto Bermudez de Castro (driver/trimmer, Spain), Adam Minoprio (driver/trimmer), Rob Salthouse (driver/trimmer), Tony Rae (driver/trimmer), Mike Pammenter (bow/boat captain, South Africa). Daryl Wislang (bow/sailmaker), Andrew McLean (pit/trimmer), Hamish Hooper (media crew member).
Boat specs:

Length: 21.5m (70.53')
Beam: 5.3m-5.7m (17.38'-18.7')
Draft: 4.5m (14.76')
Mainsail area: 175m
Headsail area: 140m
Spinnaker area: 500m
Mast height (above deck): 29m
Weight overall: 14,000-14,500kg
Fin and bulbmax weight: 7400kg
Keel angle: 40deg either side of the vertical