Yachting: America's Cup poser for world champions

Carl Williams (left) and Hamish Pepper with the trophy for winning the Star world championships in San Francisco

Hamish Pepper might be having a quiet word with Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker before next year's America's Cup.

Pepper, who won the Star world championships with Carl Williams in San Francisco over the weekend, has his sights set on a place in the 2008 Olympic Games.

To do that New Zealand has to first qualify a spot in the class, which they can do at next year's world championships.

The difficulty is that Williams works for BMW Oracle Racing and is committed until the end of the America's Cup.

If Oracle make it to the America's Cup match, Williams will be tied up until early July, the same time the world championships are to start.

"If Oracle make the America's Cup, we will jump in a boat a couple of days before the worlds," Pepper said.

"If Team New Zealand knock them out then we'll get a few extra days or even weeks in the boat together which would be better."

A good enough reason for Pepper to give his old school mate Barker a rev up. Pepper and Williams' eighth in the final race of the Star world championships was enough to secure them the title over Robert Sheidt and Bruno Prada, of Brazil, who finished three points behind.

Sixty-six crews competed in the championship which was a six-race series, with one discard.

Pepper and Williams ended with two firsts, a fourth, a fifth and an eighth. Their 20th placing was discarded.

"We are both newcomers to the Star class," Pepper said yesterday.

"Every day that Carl and I have been in the boat it has been a better day. Obviously this regatta went extremely well for us ... we both realise that we still have much to learn and will continue developing as a team towards Beijing."

Pepper, who was tactician on board Team New Zealand in the last cup, started in the Star in January while Williams has had only 35 days in the class.

The next regatta for the pair is the North American championships in Miami in November.

The other New Zealand crew of Rohan Lord and Addy Miles finished sixth at the world championships which means even if Pepper and Williams qualify New Zealand a spot in the Olympics next year they will have a battle on their hands to beat Lord and Miles for it.

Crews qualify their countries rather than themselves. Seventy-five per cent of nations qualify next year and the other 25 per cent at the 2008 world champs.

"For us it is great that we have two Kiwis in the top 10. It is great to have competition. It should lift both our games towards the Olympics, then whoever is selected should have a better chance," Pepper said.

The Star class is one New Zealand have had success in before. Don Cowie and Rod Davis, who is now Yachting New Zealand's Olympic director, finished second in the 1992 Olympics.

"It is not a class that New Zealand has raced a lot of. It is an expensive class and there is no racing in New Zealand, it is all in America or Europe which makes it hard for Kiwis."

Pepper is based in Valencia. He was working for America's Cup team Mascalzone Latino, but has now split with them and is taking them to court over breach of contract. The America's Cup rules prevent him from joining any other team.

Pepper and Williams' win tops off what has been a successful few months for Yachting New Zealand.

Last month Tom Ashley finished second and Barbara Kendall fourth in the world board sailing championships, Andrew Murdoch was sixth at the Laser world championships and third in a pre-Olympic regatta in Qingdao. Jo Aleh was second in the Laser Radial class in the same pre-Olympic regatta. Fifteen-year-olds Carl Evans and Peter Burling also won the world 420 championships in Spain.

* Oracle's USA71 has arrived in Auckland on a container ship from Germany. The yacht and equipment was shipped directly from Kiel following the German Sailing Grand Prix event. USA71 was built for the last America's Cup. Oracle will resume training here in late November.