Yachting: Russians running out of time

By Suzanne McFadden

The Russians will have to turn up with their boat in the next 36 hours if they want to start in the first race of the America's Cup challenger series next month.

All boats to race in round one of the Louis Vuitton Cup series must be in Auckland 30 days before they line up on the Hauraki Gulf - if they have not been measured, weighed and floated.

Most of the syndicates are now here, and by next weekend the cup village will be a full house.

It is virtually certain now that the starting line-up on October 18 will number 11.

The Russians and the French Le Defi Sud campaign are looking more and more like no-shows.

There has been no word from the Age of Russia syndicate in the past fortnight, since they inquired about landing an Antonov freight plane carrying their 1992-built yacht at Auckland Airport.

The head of the America's Cup Challenger Association, Dyer Jones, said he understood the boat had been measured but had not received a certificate for completing the whole procedure.

"There are only about five or six boats which have been through that process," he said.

All of the boats must be in town by October 4 to be measured again, and to be checked that they haven't been assembled differently after their delivery journeys across the world.

The AmericaOne syndicate will arrive a fortnight earlier than originally planned when their first boat, USA49, docks early next week.

Paul Cayard's team were scheduled to be the last team into the village, in the first week of October.

But they decided that date was too near the final measurement deadline.

Their second boat is now being built in San Pedro, and will arrive in time to sail in the challenger semifinals on the second day of 2000.

There has been a flurry of arrivals in the past week - the Hawaiians, Spanish and Swiss - and the rest of the challenger fleet is expected in town over the next 10 days.

The $100 million Prada campaign are due in town with their two new boats on Monday.

Around the same time, the Australians are expected with AUS39.

But they may have temporary lodgings in the village until their space is sorted out.

France's Le Defi boat 6e Sens is sharing a ride to Auckland with New York's second yacht USA58 on a ship due in port in Auckland mid-week.

No one is sure when the low-key Japanese syndicate will arrive, but they should be set up in town by the end of the week.

The Hawaiians trucked their two artistic boats into the village with a motorcade to rival President Bill Clinton's last Saturday.

The Swiss boat, Be Happy, flew in on a Russian Antonov freight plane smack in the middle of the Apec activity.

It was unloaded in quick-smart time at the Auckland Airport in the early hours of Monday and driven to a Westhaven boatyard to be finished off.

At the same time, building began on the Swiss boatshed - the last of the cup village sites to be developed.

The Spanish yacht Bravo Espana, the one with the turned-up nose, was towed into the Viaduct Basin on Tuesday, after she was unloaded from a container ship.

The boat has stayed in the water since, and will probably sail this weekend.

Crews are already commenting on crowding out on the gulf, with rival boats crossing tacks at times.

In the next weeks, it's only going to get busier.