08 JAN 00 //
The Emotions of Spectating

05 JAN 00 //
Prada's Mast Breaks

AmericaOne and Prada are carrying very high-roach mainsails, which puts a huge emphasis on development. To support the very large area in the top part of the mainsail requires extremely stiff fore and aft mast sections, and a carbon-fibre thread layout within the mainsails that has to be pretty much perfect, otherwise these massive roaches misbehave and their shape rapidly deteriorates.

From one-design racing aboard Etchells and Solings, we know that sail and mast combinations plus the genoas in front are super-critical for boat speed. We're seeing the same out here on the Gulf.

Interestingly enough, in strong winds, the six contestants are all very equal in speed, except for the French who struggle with their super narrow boat.

Most people are talking about how wide or how skinny the boats are. Winglets, rudders, all that stuff. What we're seeing, however, is the design sophistication of everything below the waterline moving towards an equal plateau. The speed differences we're seeing are probably more due to differences in masts and sail plans.

Interestingly enough, in strong winds, the six contestants are all very equal in speed, except for the French who struggle with their super narrow boat. When I say struggle, I mean they're off the pace by only a couple of metres every five to 10 minutes. On good days, the teams all get around the racetrack within seconds of each other.

In the winds below 10 knots, however, we are seeing AmericaOne and Prada really start to dominate the racing. The boats are all carrying one mainsail for all conditions, it appears. The reason is simple. The wind strength can vary so much within one race on the Gulf that unless you have a very versatile rig you won't be competitive.

These boats feed off wind pressure, big time. They lap up every extra knot of wind speed across the deck. To have a mainsail that can perform optimally from six knots to 20 knots is a big requirement, but they're doing it. Genoas are equally sophisticated, although the teams are having to change the genoas at a fairly fast rate, depending on wind strengths. The next step will be to design genoas which mechanically flatten off as the breeze freshens. We're not seeing that here yet in Auckland.

The mainsails are also getting flatter and flatter. We came to the same conclusion in 1995 with our boat oneAustralia. It seemed the more we flattened off the sections, the faster we would go -- and indeed Tom Schnackenberg and the Kiwi team showed the way in this area.

We never really got the thread layout figured out correctly and so could not carry the super-high roaches we're seeing today. Plus, we didn't have the fore and aft stiffness to support such air foils. These new spars are up to 50 percent stiffer fore and aft than what we carried -- all part of the development curve.

Interestingly, the Kiwis have spent four years on their programme, much longer than any other syndicate here in Auckland. Schnackenberg, the head of Team New Zealand's technical team, will have put much effort into sail development, no question. Stand by to see some pretty interesting and refined engines used by the Kiwis.

A mainsail costs US$75,000 a pop. This eats up budgets real quick. So these teams don't have the luxury of testing dozens of different sails like a sophisticated dinghy programme, unless you are extremely well funded. And there are still major limitations on how many new sails any syndicate can afford.

Prada, of course, has the biggest budget in Auckland at US$50 million. AmericaOne isn't far behind at US$30 million. Prada has been developing its sail programme for three years. AmericaOne's programme lags a bit when compared to Prada, but is still well funded.

In 1983, John Bertrand skippered Australia II to win the America's Cup and break the 132-year winning streak of the New York Yacht Club. He has competed in five America's Cups, and two Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in the Finn class at Montreal in 1976. In 1996, he co-founded Quokka Sports.

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