Sips from the Cup: Swedes use stealth to launch cup bid Orn

By JULIE ASH

Sweden's Victory Challenge introduced their new America's Cup boat Orn to the Hauraki Gulf this week.

The first training was at twilight, to conceal all secrets on the boat for as long as possible.

"It was a fantastic feeling," said the project leader Mats Johansson on return after nightfall.

Johansson was the skipper and Jesper Bank, twice Olympic Games gold medallist for Denmark, was the navigator on Orn's (SWE 63) first outing.

Also on board was boat designer German Frers jun and boat constructor Chris Mellow.

Frers was one of Prada's head designers for last year's America's Cup campaign when the Italian syndicate reached the final against Team New Zealand.

Mellow took part in the construction of the victorious New Zealand Black Magic boats which took the country to victory in 1995 and last year in the world's oldest and established sailing competition.

"They were both really pleased with what they saw of Orn," Johansson said.

According to the plan, the boat's first outing was limited to an hour of sailing.

Said Johansson: "We focused entirely on structural tests. Therefore we couldn't sheet home the sails completely. The tests, however, so far show that adiÖrn has become the boat that everybody in the project has wished for.

"Now follows 24 hours of minor adjustments before it's time for the second training, this time with another key person on board - Magnus Holmberg, who is ranked No 1 in the world of match racing."

Orn was built in Gothenburg and christened on October 27. According to the America's Cup rules, the hull, rudder and keel must be constructed in the same country that the challenging boat comes from.

The mast and sail can be produced in another country. The mast of Victory Challenge was made in New Zealand.

Since its arrival in Auckland a month ago on an Antonov transportation plane, the rudder, keel and mast have been assembled.

Victory Challenge will sail for a few more days before breaking up for the Christmas holidays. Training resumes after New Year.

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The quality of America's Cup pictures could be much clearer thanks to a hydro gyro gadget.

It is the smallest, lightweight camera stabilisation head available and enables crisp and clear images without the rolling effect in the harshest of filming conditions. It can be used on watercraft, on vehicles and on aircraft.

David Grober, from California, has spent the last month in Auckland working with an America's Cup syndicate using the hydro gyro to film promotional shots.

The hydro gyro only weighs 14kg and took Grober, of Motion Picture Marine, more than 10 years to develop.

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In the spirit of the original America's Cup Deed of Gift - which states ... making it perpetually a challenge cup for friendly competition between foreign countries - Oracle Racing and Team NZ have got into the swing of the festive season.

Oracle Racing are inviting their rival syndicates to their base for drinks and nibbles while Team New Zealand are inviting them to the Royal New Zealand squadron - the home of the cup.

Both have had a good response from the syndicates, although the first syndicate that Oracle invited, Prada, didn't think it was such a great idea to mingle in enemy territory and rejected the offer.

But the OneWorld Challenge got into the swing of things and had a blast on board Oracle Racing's floating hospitality centre. Oracle Racing will now look to extend their hospitality to others on Syndicate Road.

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Not to be outdone by the Brits and reports of their success in the recent Manukau half marathon, Oracle skipper Chris Dickson has also proved he is not too bad on his feet.

Dickson, along with Team New Zealand's mainsail trimmer Tony Rae, competed in the Auckland marathon recently. He clocked in at 3h 43m and Rae 3h 33min.

It is believed that Rae is no stranger to marathons, but for Dickson it was his first.

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The British are one of a number of syndicates who have paid tribute to Sir Peter Blake.

GBR Challenge said the tragic loss was felt deeply by the crew.

Chief executive Peter Harrison said he had learned a lot of lessons from Sir Peter's team concept for Team NZ and that his challenge had adopted some of the key strategies from the 1995 NZ campaign.

"The crew's thoughts at this very distressing time are with Sir Peter's family who live in Britain," he said. "They could be proud of Sir Peter as a person who had achieved great things, with the Viaduct Basin, created from his vision for the America's Cup, his legacy for Auckland for all time."

Harrison said Sir Peter was a universally respected yachtsman who had left an indelible mark on his sport.