By HELEN TUNNAH and REBECCA WALSH
Skipper Dean Barker says Team New Zealand's preparation for defending the America's Cup was based on that used for winning the last defence.
He said Team New Zealand were disappointed at the breakages in the first and fourth races of the defence, gear failures which
had not happened in training.
"When we decided what we were going to do we used the last campaign as a blueprint. I wouldn't really imagine doing anything very different."
Barker said Alinghi had the advantage of becoming battle-hardened in the challenger series, while Team New Zealand had perhaps missed having strong breezes to train in during a settled summer.
However, America's Cup experts have begun questioning why Team New Zealand have had to fit skirts alongside the rear of its deck to prevent water coming in.
There has also been concern after syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg admitted a fortnight ago the boat had not been pushed in strong winds.
Barker said yesterday it had been difficult to know how hard to press their new boats, and claimed their $85 million budget did not allow them to risk mechanical failures because they could not afford significant repairs.
Team New Zealand have lost all four races they have sailed in this regatta, two through gear failure.
They were forced out of the first race of the defence after the boat's boom broke under the pressure of taking on board between five and six tonnes of water.
Yesterday the boat again took on a considerable amount of water in lumpy seas before the rig broke on the third leg. Although winds had been gusting more than 25 knots before the failure, when it snapped the breeze was below 20 knots.
The boat had ploughed through two sets of large waves when a rigging fitting failed.
Alinghi sailed around the course without significant gear failures, and even trained in winds gusting past 30 knots on one of this week's cancelled race days.
Former America's Cup skipper Dawn Riley said there seemed to have been a breakdown in the planning and preparation of Team New Zealand.
"That would lead to the incident on the first day and the mast breaking.
"It seems like they were missing someone with the experience and logic. I thought they were kidding when they said they had never 'boated' the yacht up in these conditions.
"Now I wonder if that was the truth. If it was the truth, then you have got to question the logic."
Yachting New Zealand's high-performance manager Peter Lester yesterday questioned Team New Zealand's preparation.
He said the reliability of a boat always came down to detail and preparation.
He said in that area, Alinghi seemed to be better.
"Part of the preparation curve is the shore crew, is the designers, the engineers. But in the end you have to test thoroughly on the water."
His former America's Cup sailing partner Chris Dickson, who skippered Oracle in the Louis Vuitton Cup finals against Alinghi, said the Swiss had clearly benefited from "a very competitive and very tough" challenger series.
"It has toughened their equipment and sharpened their act against other challengers.
"That's a luxury Team New Zealand without a defender competition hasn't had."
Dickson declined to comment specifically about what had gone wrong with the Team New Zealand campaign.
OneWorld skipper Peter Gilmour said Team New Zealand's approach to this defence appeared to have subtly shifted.
"In 2000 I could remember Russell [Coutts] and Brad [Butterworth] saying we are here to win the America's Cup, and this time the whole mood was 'we're here to defend it'."
Former Prada designer Doug Peterson also would not say what seemed to be wrong with the defence.
However, he said he believed taking on so much water was a consequence of the boat's design. He said it seemed to be a beamier boat, and the sides tended to sit lower in the water than Alinghi's.
Team New Zealand designer Clay Oliver said the team had not raced in such strong winds and a poor sea state in either this or the last campaign.
"We just look back and say well, we've never actually had an opportunity to race hard in 25 knots and a big swell.
"There's a little bit of damage to the hull and we're fixing that."
Schnackenberg said last night that some of the criticisms about the new boats not having sailed enough in tough conditions might be reasonable.
"I supposed it's valid because we've been breaking down."
However, he said Team New Zealand had certainly trained in their old boats, NZL60 and NZL57, in strong winds. The new boats, NZL81 and NZL82 were both launched in the past six months.
Team NZ have broken masts at least twice in the past three years' training.
Continuous coverage of today's America's Cup race will begin on nzherald.co.nz at 12.30pm.
Race 4: Pictures of the dismasting | Commentary
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule and results
By HELEN TUNNAH and REBECCA WALSH
Skipper Dean Barker says Team New Zealand's preparation for defending the America's Cup was based on that used for winning the last defence.
He said Team New Zealand were disappointed at the breakages in the first and fourth races of the defence, gear failures which
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