Former AC helm's viewpoint

The Daily Sail gets the take on the Auckland action from Chris Law

Chris Law, Outlaw and former America’s Cup helm is in Auckland at present wheeling, dealing and commentating on the America’s Cup action.

Law gave The Daily Sail his views on how the America’s Cup is panning out, why Alinghi are winning and, significantly, why Team New Zealand are losing.

Alinghi he says are sailing to nearly 100%. “Overall I think Alinghi have got a nice tidy design package. If you put it the other way round if you put Coutts and co in the Team New Zealand boat, I think there'd be no competition.”

Equally Law believes that Team New Zealand are quick. “They have got a very good design package. I haven't seen yet what I thought would see which would be a trade off.

“The hula - you could see it working upwind: water coming out of the windward side, so there must be frictional drag, but they don't seem to pay a penalty for that. You would think there would a problem in light air or downwind or accelerating so it is a very good design concept and they are clearly quick. They were also quick off the start line in the first race before they had problems. They were quick in race two and got intimidated and in race three having been nearly 200m behind on the first beat coming back to within 30-40m by the end.”

Equally there have been some surprises. “Everyone was going on about Team New Zealand being a rocket ship downwind, which it is clearly not.”

Law goes on to give his analysis of Team New Zealand’s form, or rather lack of form, in the first three races. Each race, he says, can be described by a single word.

“The story of the first race is – come off the line, both boats hammer down, nice gap to windward, exploding off the start line. From that situation you would expect even boats, the power of the right, you would expect Team New Zealand to dominate. The fact that they broke down because of initially water issues is still strange to me. I don't believe spectator wash was an issue there. I also don't believe one of the stories that they put on internal ballast water and overdid it and overloaded the thing. They clearly have a design issue.

“Whether that loaded up the gooseneck - possibly. If they had 5-6 tonnes, or say 2-3 more likely, it would still be enough to significantly increase the displacement.

“I think it is fundamental that they cut something so important as the clew outhaul area and risk a fundamental catastrophic breakdown. And of course then they didn't ease the jib, so all the load from easing the main went on the jib and one of the three corners was going to go and they broke the titanium tack shackle. So overall the word that I would use for that is ‘experience’. Even little things - like Coutts avoided the dial up, which he had the right to being on starboard, he avoided the dail up to save his gear.

“In the second race, they had a nice break on the run. Alinghi let them through. They sailed away to nearly a 200m lead again. Then they allowed the pressure of the occasion to allow Coutts to intimidate them, whereas when Coutts is in the lead, he will not be frightened to extend, he will sail the race course, he's looking forward, Brad Butterworth is always positive, Murray Jones is calling good shifts but in their case they kept looking behind, they kept getting intimidated and in the end they got beaten and they got rolled. My overall word for that is ‘confidence’, they lacked confidence, they lacked balls under the spotlight.

“In the third race they had clearly made a plan to go left and clearly there was a right hand shift. Both weather teams by the sounds of it had called it - all you've got to do is read it, they've all got weather boats out there, so they must have known it was coming. Butterworth and Coutts changed tactically and they started on port at the committee boat end and saved a tack, which is even better. And they took it all the way to the left hand layline and they were lucky the breeze went left because at one point it looked like it was going to continue to wind right and from then on they controlled the race just beautifully tactically. At one point they were threatened, at the end of second run and the word I'd use there was ‘tactics’.

“If Team New Zealand have a weak point, it has got to be Hamish Pepper and Peter Evans in the tactical department.”

So if Law were Team New Zealand boss what changes would he make or have made?

“I think from the beginning they should have said ‘ok, lets calm the ship here’, they should have had Joey Allen in the middle of the foredeck, and Earl Williams on runners at the back and bring in the likes of Schnack instead of Hamish Pepper or Peter Evans. And what is showing is a lack of match practice. Of course what the Louis Vuitton Cup is all about is honing the skills. This time perhaps the challengers are very strong.”

At the time of our interview Team New Zealand hadn’t made the call to bring on Bertrand Pace, and Law says this would be a good thing. But he goes further… “I'll give you a ballsey call - put on Bertrand Pace and give him the wheel tomorrow as starting helm. What have they got to lose? Last time Pace was with the French and won seven in a row to qualify for the semi-finals.

“It's like any problem in life, whether you have weight problem, drink problem or a financial problem, until you realise it you can't do anything about it. And in business if a company is not doing well do you stick with the existing management team or do you make changes? I think the right way to run challenges in the future is you run it like Manchester United. So if Beckham is not playing well - take him off.”

Like a lot of observers of this race, Law fears that 3-0 down, it may fall apart completely for Team New Zealand. “What I hope will happen is that they win 2 more races. But my guess is that it is going to Europe.”

He believes that the America’s Cup coming to Europe would be fantastic. “The sport will explode: They’re talking about all sorts of really good changes with the protocol. Number one you’re allowed to hack about your old boats. Number two you can buy foreign boats and you can hack about with them and race them, just like with the Olympic classes, you’d buy a Finn from a Frenchman or a Soling from an Italian and you could race that in the Olympics.

“Of course in the America’s Cup you have to design and build the boat in your own backyard. They are talking about dropping the nationality rule, tightening up on the technology transfers, which would be great, getting rid of the yacht clubs, which are a pain in the arse to everyone, run it like a football team, tie up the commercial rights, bring it closer to harbour, more races a day, a gate at bottom mark, a gate at the top mark. It is just going to be a fantastic sport…”

Controversially, Law, as someone who knows New Zealand well, feels that local interest in the America’s Cup is waning. “To win it in 1995 and to defend it was fantastic. From New Zealand's point of view, as much as the hardcore will be disappointed in it leaving, I think they are tired of it - it has gone on too long, there’s been too much controversy, it is not easy to follow, there have been too many delays, sponsorship dollars are very hard to find. And the patronism has been stretched over a period of eight years. Where’s the red socks? It misses Peter Blake…

If Team New Zealand were to lose the America’s Cup he doubts that they would challenge again in their present form. “But as someone said to me the other day, they wouldn’t be a bad sponsorship bet, because it would be relative cheap and they have a good brand in the all-black type of thing.”

3-0 down – it will certainly take a miracle for Team New Zealand to make a comeback at this stage and it is unlikely that in the four days since they last raced they will have been able to implement enough change to make the difference. But as they say, no one fights harder than a Kiwi in a corner.

Feedback: Do you think Chris is right about his views on the Americas Cup being hosted in Europe?