By JULIE ASH
It will almost be a case of the old against the new when Alinghi race Team New Zealand tomorrow.
Of the sailors who defended the cup in 2000, six of the regular crew are now sailing for Alinghi and just three for Team New Zealand.
Many of the current New
Zealand crew trained against Russell Coutts and co on the B boat last time round.
But along with the six former Team New Zealand members - Coutts, Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney, Murray Jones, Warwick Fleury and Dean Phipps - Alinghi has plenty of other experience.
There's triple Olympic gold medallist strategist Jochen Schuemann and two times America's Cup-winning grinder John Barnitt.
Many of Team New Zealand's 36-strong sailing crew have yet to compete in a cup race.
Eight in the present team sailed against Prada in the last cup but just bowman Joey Allen, mainsheet trimmer Tony Rae and runner/pitman Barry McKay were regulars on the boat and have been since 1995.
Dean Barker, grinder Chris Ward, trimmer Grant Loretz and navigators Mike Drummond and Tom Schnackenberg all sailed at some stage during the regatta.
Others with cup experience include mainsheet trimmer Chris Salthouse, who sailed with New Zealand in 1988 and 1992 and Tag Heuer in 1995; mastman Nick Heron who has been involved in every New Zealand team since 1988 and runner/pitman Erle Williams who was with New Zealand in 1987, Nippon in 1992 and Stars and Stripes in 2000.
But many of the Team New Zealand crew are in their twenties and either joined the team just before or just after the 2000 defence.
The average age of the crew is likely to be around 34, Alinghi's 38.
Pitman Yves Detrey is the youngest member of the Alinghi team at 24; Schuemann is the oldest at 48.
For the defenders, Carl Whiting-Williams is the whippersnapper at 22, Tom Schnackenberg is 57.
Barker, 29, and tactician Hamish Pepper, 31, are over 10 years younger than Coutts, 40, and Butterworth, 43.
History shows the cup is almost always won on boat speed, but if the boats are relatively even then crew work will mean the difference between winning and losing.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule and results
By JULIE ASH
It will almost be a case of the old against the new when Alinghi race Team New Zealand tomorrow.
Of the sailors who defended the cup in 2000, six of the regular crew are now sailing for Alinghi and just three for Team New Zealand.
Many of the current New
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