Yachting: Q & A with BMW Oracle skipper Chris Dickson

America's Cup challenger BMW Oracle racing's skipper Chris Dickson says having depth and strength in the entire team is important. Picture / Reuters

With their innovative yacht USA87, BMW Oracle Racing were in fine form in the opening America's Cup pre-regatta of the year, winning the match-racing event.

Although they did not fare so well in the fleet racing, finishing fourth, they remain locked with Team New Zealand at top of the challenger leaderboard.

What did you take away from the last regattas in terms of the performance of USA87?

"Going into these races we only had about 20 days of sailing time and 50 or so hours of testing so we are still in a developmental stage. 87 is an innovative boat from top of the mast to the bottom of the keel so plenty to learn and tweak as we work her up to full potential."

We saw your jumper-less rig in the fleet racing. How do you feel it went?

"We had seen promising results from testing the jumper-less rig prior to the start of Act 11 and wanted to take advantage of testing this new rig on the race track. It's always a strategic decision as to when to deploy technology still in development. The jumper-less rig is an area we want to fully explore in the 2006 season."

How do you find competing in two races a day on shorter courses?

"There is always pressure for a good clean start but as we have seen there have also been plenty of opportunities to find a passing lane. There is a high emphasis on the strength of the shore and support teams to get the boat and equipment through not just one but potentially two tough races in a day. This is not as easy as it sounds so having depth and strength in the entire team is important."

What do you think of the venue?

"Valencia does not always offer the steady conditions predicted which sometimes is challenging."

Since the last Cup Oracle, Alinghi, Team NZ and Luna Rossa have all made changes to their afterguards. How do you feel your opponents are developing?

"The afterguard plays an important dual role in every stage of the campaign both in racing but also in two-boat testing and in-house training. In race mode, we have a core afterguard that works very well and has proven itself consistently on the water - Larry Ellison, Peter Isler, Bertrand Pace, Eric Doyle and myself."

What are your thoughts on Alinghi's new boat, SUI91?

"We actually haven't seen much of it. We know that even with a turbo-charged 2003 generation boat in SUI75 they are still tough to beat."

In terms of concept, how does USA87 differ from NZL84, ITA86 and SUI91?

"Interestingly they are all quite different! The rule encourages boats that are more similar but the top four teams all seem to have quite different solutions to the same problem."

Alinghi are still very strong, what do you think the challengers have to do to take the Cup off them?

"We support ongoing informal racing among the challengers so we can all raise our game. Alinghi remains the benchmark but I am confident the challengers are closer today than when Alinghi won in Auckland. We have closed the gap. I believe we are on track to beat Alinghi next year."

We hear you are considering training in Auckland over the summer. Is this the case and would you practise with Team NZ?

"We have looked at a several options for a winter training programme in a location other than Valencia and New Zealand is one of the options. With 50 per cent of our team from New Zealand, there are a large number of us who would love to do some summer sailing in NZ and bring the team home for a bit. We won't make the decision until later this season. We have already had informal racing with Team NZ in Valencia so I see no reason why that could not continue."

A year out from the Cup, is your campaign where you feel it needs to be?

"At this stage, we feel we are on track to where we need to be to peak next year. Thanks to an early commitment from Larry Ellison and BMW we were able to get the funding in place to hire the best people and start research and development early. This has shown benefits so far and will continue to so into next year."