Yachting: No glitz in Italy, but in Hawaii...

By Suzanne McFadden

Two new America's Cup boats will be launched this weekend - under very different circumstances.

Italian challengers Prada will slip their second Luna Rossa boat into the Mediterranean sea without fanfare.

But in Hawaii, there will be a full blessing in downtown Waikiki of the new Abracadabra 2000.

It is a race against time for the Aloha Racing syndicate to get their first boat out of the shed in time for the launch on Sunday.

The building crew have been working around the clock seven days a week for three weeks to get USA50 completed.

Aloha boss and skipper John Kolius said there had been plenty of Kiwi input in the boat.

"Every syndicate has its token Kiwis - there's a quota you've got to fill on the entry form," he joked.

"It's just fortunate for the rest of the world that New Zealand can't use all the good sailors they have. It gives us the opportunity to pick up on some of their skills."

Top New Zealand Laser sailor Cameron Dunn has joined Kolius' racing crew after living in the United States for the required three-year residency period.

Three other Kiwi sailors - Tony Mutter, Mike Beasley and Dean Harper - work in the shore crew.

The boats have been designed by Australians Ian Burns and Andrew Dovell, who worked on OneAustralia in 1995. Burns was navigator for the syndicate.

Kolius has moved to Hawaii this week from his home in Huston, Texas.

The Aloha Racing base is in Ko Olina, a 40-minute drive from Waikiki around the back of Oahu island.

Hawaii, with its huge, rolling seas, would not appear to be an ideal place to test new America's Cup yachts.

"We could put the boat on port tack, keep going till everyone gets scared and have to turn around again," Kolius laughed. "But we're really a bunch of sissies. Behind the island where we are is actually quite sheltered and flat."

Kolius would like to have both Abracadabra boats in the water by July 15, but he knows that August 1 is a more realistic date.

"The second boat will be pretty different - but I think that's something you have to do for this America's Cup. You're going to see severely different weather conditions from one day to another in Auckland."

The entire crew has yet to be settled, and next week will be the first time most of them have sailed together. The Aloha team have not had an old cup boat to train on.

If the Hawaiian boats are not the fastest challengers, they will certainly be up for the prize of best-dressed - their hulls have been decorated by renowned ocean wildlife painter Wyland.

Italy's second boat will join the first Luna Rossa, launched a month ago, in testing at Punta Ala for the next six weeks.

The French Le Defi syndicate and the Spanish Challenge will launch their new boats next weekend.