Heavyweights prepare for battle

By JULIE ASH

Come Monday, America's Cup racing will be at its best - weather permitting.

With five challengers eliminated, just Alinghi, Oracle BMW Racing, OneWorld and Prada remain in the running to win the right to meet Team New Zealand in February.

It comes as no surprise that the teams left are the big-budget campaigns. The question is, who will be left standing at the end of the challenger series?

Oracle and Alinghi, who race each other, have an extra life in the semifinals. The loser of the OneWorld and Prada match faces elimination.

Both matches are expected to go down to the wire, but most New Zealand interest will be in the showdown between veteran Kiwi sailors Russell Coutts (Alinghi) and Chris Dickson (Oracle).

Alinghi had the better of Oracle in the first round, but Oracle won by 4s in round two.

The winner of the best-of-seven series advances to the Louis Vuitton final on January 11.

"We have had some close racing with them," Coutts said. "They have got plenty of strengths and not many weaknesses.

"They position themselves nicely. They don't make a lot of stupid mistakes.

"They sail the boat well and they recover nicely from any errors that they have made, such as when they broke a spinnaker pole in the quarter-final match with OneWorld."

Coutts said the return of long-time rival Dickson had given Oracle a boost.

Dickson had been dropped from the boat amid speculation of friction within the sailing team.

"What he has brought to Oracle is good results," Coutts said. "They haven't been beaten since the middle of round two. They are on a roll and I think he has had a fair bit to do with it.

"He is obviously a very talented sailor and has brought some leadership into that programme which has clearly been of benefit."

Coutts said this week that Alinghi would stick with SUI64. Oracle will wait until tomorrow to announce their choice.

"My impression is that they are in a similar stage to us. I am not sure we will see many of their developments in the semifinals.

"But, presuming they make it, I certainly think we are going to see changes in their boat come finals time."

Coutts said the Prada and OneWorld race was shaping up to be a close contest too.

"Prada have made a ton of changes to their boats. OneWorld, I am not sure what changes they have made.

"They changed boats in the quarter-finals. I am not sure what decision they have made for the semis. Obviously that will depend on where they think Prada is. But it's going to be a real even match."

Since they trounced OneWorld and Prada in the quarter-finals, Oracle and Alinghi have had almost three weeks to prepare for their clash.

Alinghi have prepared new sails, but have not had time to evaluate all of them.

"We put a new mast on one of the boats recently," Coutts said. "I don't think we have decided our primary rig for the semifinals.

"In this game you can't stop developing any part of the programme for any length of time. If you do, you will fall behind."

He said there was a good feeling in the Alinghi camp.

"I think everyone has been working hard, so there are a few tired faces around, but I haven't seen any unhappy faces."

When asked if the controversial Blackheart campaign had affected his team, Coutts, obviously sick and tired of answering questions about the group, said no.

"I just think it is ridiculous, childish and pathetic.

"I have been to a lot of sporting events in my time. I have been to some big ones, like the Olympic Games and so forth.

"Universally, at those sporting events, the competitors are welcome. I can generally say I don't wish bad things about my competitors. I hope that I beat them, but I don't wish bad things on them.

"I think in a lot of ways the Blackheart campaign and all the things that are connected with that go against the Kiwi psyche.

"By all means people should support Team New Zealand, but they don't need to throw mud at the opposition to do it."

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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