By HELEN TUNNAH
Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts has used a British newspaper column to again raise doubts about the legality of Team New Zealand's radical new design.
Coutts, writing about the prospects of Alinghi adopting a New Zealand-style "hula", or false hull appendage, said the problem was creating a legal design.
"Imagine the situation if it touched the hull during a race. You'd be disqualified," Coutts' column in the Daily Telegraph said.
Coutts will lead the Swiss team Alinghi against many of his old crew in Team New Zealand for the America's Cup next month.
Team New Zealand this month unveiled the secret design they have kept hidden under their full-length skirts, a false hull appendage designed to boost a boat's waterline length and therefore speed.
The "hula" is allowed to touch the hull only where it is attached, and how Team New Zealand has achieved this remains a mystery.
The 6m-long hula fits snugly against the hull, the separation just millimetres in places.
Critics have questioned the hula's legality, and backers have praised Team New Zealand's creative thinking.
Coutts said Alinghi were still deciding whether to fit such an appendage to their race boat, SUI64.
"We've tested it on SUI75 and it's definitely do-able with it touching the hull, but then that's against the rules.
"We've got to convince ourselves that we've got the shape right to add sailing length without unacceptable drag, and that it remains rule-legal throughout the series."
Alinghi have already asked the official measurers and the international jury for the America's Cup questions about how a team can know a hula stays clear of the hull, and how this can be checked for compliance with the rules.
The measurers spent more than three months checking Team New Zealand's design.
The New Zealanders have re-skirted their race boats, and neither team will have to declare until February 11 what final shape their race boat will take.
The America's Cup starts on February 15.
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