America's Cup: Easy going Kiwis thrive

By JULIE ASH

There is no shortage of Kiwi sailing influence in Valencia.

Of the eight teams competing in the second cup pre-regatta, five have New Zealand sailors.

Emirates Team New Zealand, defenders Alinghi and Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing are full of Kiwis, Peter Evans, Daniel Fong and Andrew Taylor are with Team Luna Rossa and Cameron Appleton, Peter Merrington and Paul Murray are sailing with France's K-Challenge.

"We come from a great yachting background," Appleton said.

"We are easy going, easy to get along with and basically no challenge is big enough to tackle. Maybe that has got something to do with it."

Appleton, who was part of the Team New Zealand defences in 2000 and 2003, has yet to sign with a syndicate.

He has a couple of options but there is every chance he will secure a spot at K-Challenge, a French syndicate set up by Airbus pioneer Ortwin Kandler, his son Stephan and Dawn Riley.

"If things work out and they are keen to have me and I am keen with what they have - sure there is always that option," said Appleton.

He was invited by K-Challenge skipper Thierry Peponnet to sail with the team in the second pre-regatta.

Peponnet wanted Appleton, who sails in the afterguard, to help them out with their starts and their boat - one which Appleton knows well.

The French syndicate brought one of the Team New Zealand's 2000 boats, NZL57, and have hired its sister yacht NZL60.

NZL57, now FRA57, has performed surprisingly well in Valencia.

"The thing is, 57 was one of the best boats of its time," Appleton said.

"Everyone worked really hard to design boats for the last Cup that were faster than 57 and 60. So these guys made a good move to buy those boats."

However, the boat was one of several to suffer gear failure in the fourth day of the regatta.

In a direct contrast to the light winds which had plagued the gulf of Valencia, yesterday the wind came.

With 15 to 23 knots blustering to over 30 knots, five of the 12 scheduled races involved just one boat, with one team either retiring after the start, or unable to finish the match due to equipment problems.

Team New Zealand managed to complete their three races but they did change their boom between races two and three.

"It wasn't a major, it was just a fitting that had moved a little bit," said skipper Dean Barker.

After wins over Le Defi, +39 and Team Shosholoza, who did not start the race, Team New Zealand are on top of the table, alongside Team Luna Rossa.

With one race of the second round completed, Team New Zealand faced K-Challenge and Team Luna Rossa overnight.

"A lot is really going to be determined by our races against Prada, Alinghi and Oracle," Barker said.

"But I am really pleased every race we are feeling more and more comfortable in the boat and the afterguard is working well."