Day in the life of Oracle crew

JULIE ASH goes aboard Oracle to look at the long hard slog of getting an America's Cup boat - and crew - up to speed.

Seven months out from the challenger series it is all go on "Syndicate Row" as teams prepare for their shot at the Holy Grail of sailing.

While life as a professional sailor may look glamorous, a 13-hour day with San Francisco's Oracle Racing made it clear to me how much dedication and preparation are needed to succeed in this game.

The Oracle syndicate, owned by software giant Larry Ellison, assembled six months after the last America's Cup. Buying assets from AmericaOne and Aloha Racing, the team completed six months' training in Auckland before heading to Ventura, California, for the New Zealand winter.

They returned to Auckland last October and have yet to decide whether to stay through to the America's Cup regatta or return to California for the winter before contesting the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series.

The team members usually sail five days a week and spend an additional day on maintenance.

One week a month is a "race block" during which the entire team go into race mode - in preparation for the real event.

A typical day for the Oracle team starts at 6am with a fitness session.

We are not just talking about a 30-minute run or an easy circuit: this session is 90 minutes of pure hell.

The team have four or five fitness sessions a week, which are designed to improve flexibility, power, speed, endurance and strength.

Bill Taylor heads a group of fitness and medical experts who look after the team, and strength and conditioning coach Stu Harrison, a former Royal Marine commando, designs training programmes to cater for the sailors' different roles.

"We have three groups," Harrison says. "The grinders are the big power-and-strength guys; the cross-training guys like the bowman, pit grind and secondary grinders; and the aerobic guys such as the afterguard and the trimmer."

Shoulder and back injuries are common. "It is very physical on the boat, it is long hours and it is not just going sailing - they have to load these boats and unload them with wet heavy sails."

About once a month the team do an eco-trek which involves activities such as mountain biking, trekking, kayaking and climbing.

After the gym session, the team head to the base for breakfast between 8am and 9am.

The syndicate has two chefs, Mark Reihana and Harry Lynsk, who prepare breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks to nutritional guidelines.

While the boats and team members are being towed out to the Hauraki Gulf they have a bin full of high-carbohydrate snacks.

Lunch is served on the boats. "We can go through 40kg of chicken breasts," Reihana says.

"We cook them the day before and cut them for the lunch boxes, which also have grilled tomato, salads and steamed beans. We have standard packs and then we add extra with meat. The grinders, after a couple of races, are starving so they eat these meat packs."

At 10am Oracle's two America's Cup yachts - the old AmericaOne boats from the last regatta - leave the dock.

The sailing director is New Zealand-born John Cutler (New Zealanders make up 28 per cent of the Oracle team). It is his fourth America's Cup and he is responsible for organising the training schedule.

"At around 35 years, the average age of Oracle Racing's sailing team is possibly higher than other cup teams but it's an indication of the enormous sailing experience that the team has," says Cutler.

"Our biggest asset is the people - the talent, experience and work ethic that they bring to the table."

The work starts out in the gulf, either testing or racing.

"When you are straight-line testing, the jib trimmer is working hard, the main trimmer is working hard, a helmsman is working hard and you have people who adjust the traveller and runners - so you have four or five people on the boat who are absolutely dialled into the speed of the boat and trying to make it go faster," says Cutler.

"Then there are 11 people not really contributing that much to straight-line speed. It is difficult to look at the crew during a test so that is why we throw in races to see which combinations work well."

After six hours on the water, the Oracle team aim to finish sailing about 5pm before a review of the day - and dinner.

When they do get some time off most of the sailors chose to spend it with their families - many of whom are in Auckland.

Cutler expects this America's Cup regatta to be close.

"I think the standard of racing will be higher than it has ever been. Every team also believes you have to race the boats well, sail them well, sail smart and go the right way - that is why we are all out here now."

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