Sips from the Cup: Happy Brits have two yachts for challenger races

By JULIE ASH

GBR's second America's Cup yacht, GBR78, will be flown to Auckland, arriving shortly before the start of the challenger series.

There has been much speculation about whether the syndicate would bring a second boat to New Zealand but GBR founder and chairman Peter Harrison has announced the boat will be here in early August, in time for the series beginning on October 1.

"All of the teams that we will be competing against will have two boats in New Zealand, which could disadvantage GBR Challenge - especially given the short timespan between the rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup," Harrison said.

"The speed with which the construction team has achieved a massive gain on the anticipated building schedule for GBR78 has given us the opportunity to redress that imbalance.

"Flying is the only way to get GBR78 there in time for the sailing team to practise on two new-generation boats and tune up the second boat prior to the start of the cup."

GBR are looking for more money to help with the costs of flying the boat to Auckland.

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Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, American Ed Baird and Jesper Radich, of Denmark, have scored three wins and a loss each to lead the Swedish Match Tour's Match Cup yachting regatta at Marstrand.

Despite light conditions, the quarter-final races got off to an exciting start, with Barker and his team of Hamish Pepper, James Dagg, Tony Rae and Chris Ward beating their former boss, Russell Coutts, of Alinghi.

Team New Zealand's Bertrand Pace and Oracle Racing's Peter Holmberg are sitting behind Barker, Baird and Radich, with two wins and two losses each.

Holmberg has already secured enough points in previous events to win the Swedish Match Tour title regardless of his result in this final event.

Coutts, Victory Challenge's Magnus Holmberg and Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen all sit at the bottom of the leaderboard on one win each.

Semifinalists are found after a double round robin, with first-round wins worth one point, second-round victories worth two. Prizemoney for each event on the circuit is US$400,000 ($827,714).

The event finishes on Monday morning (NZT).

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Although their boss is away in Sweden, there's been little time for the Team New Zealand crew to skive off.

Team New Zealand trainer David Slyfield took the team members, who are not involved in the Swedish Match Tour, on a three-day trip to Taupo.

But it wasn't a trip for the faint hearted. The 20 crew members were divided into two sides. Half spent the morning building fences on a farm just out of Morrinsville, the other half worked off energy doing drills with the Fire Department. The two sides then had a firetruck-pulling contest.

"The team had a fantastic time," said Slyfield. "The locals really got into it and it was good to get everyone away and challenge ourselves in new ways."

The team also grappled with activities at an outdoor pursuit centre, and throughout the trip maintained their daily gym sessions.

However, the three days weren't all work and no play - there was time to enjoy one of New Zealand's great pastimes - golf.

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Oracle Racing's two new yachts, USA71 and USA76, are the result of technology rarely used before.

Both yachts were built from female moulds - the boat's hull is built from the outside in. It's a technique few America's Cup teams have used in the past.

New Zealand-born Tim Smyth, one of Oracle's three boat-building managers, said the end product was more precise and the hull was lighter.

"It is a more accurate reflection of what the designer expects," he said.

"When you build these [America's Cup] boats in the male form (from the inside out) the accuracy of them can be flawed. So the holy grail of America's Cup boat building is to use a female mould - where you make a plug and take a female mould off it.

"These are far and away the most complex America's Cup boats I've ever seen and it is possibly a reflection of how the competition has lifted."

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French challengers Le Defi Areva have just three more weeks with their new yacht in France before it is shipped to Auckland.

The yacht, FRA69, will leave Lorient, on the west coast of France, in the last week of July.

Shipping the yacht to New Zealand will take about 30 days. The team hope to be out training on the Hauraki Gulf in early September.