Sailing: Coutts and Alinghi aim to defy odds

Far from the turmoil of World Cup cricket and the titans of Six Nations rugby, tomorrow a battle royal begins for the talismanic trophy of sailing, the America's Cup.

This is a very unsporting race for a 152-year-old sports trophy, the rules skewed hideously in favour of the defender. Those rich enough to contest it need big egos, armour-plated emotions and self-indulgent cheque books.

Russell Coutts earned honour and glory by bringing back from the United States an Olympic gold in 1984, and in 1995, from San Diego, the America's Cup. Then he had the whole of New Zealand on its feet by leading a successful defence, sweeping away the Prada challenge from Italy in 2000.

But Coutts left and joined the pharmaceuticals billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli and his Alinghi challenge from Switzerland. To infuriate the Kiwis further, he took the heart of Team New Zealand with him.

Dean Barker is the man to whom Coutts handed the helm of the clinching fifth race in the last defence. Blessed with film-star looks, he also has in his favour a rule-busting hull modification to his silver fern-emblazoned black yacht. The "hula" underbody enhancer, combined with 12 extra square metres of sail area, should make the result a forgone conclusion.

Boat speed has always mattered most in the America's Cup. After an over-long, quarrelsome Louis Vuitton Cup, the public now yearns for a well-matched contest, as long as the Kiwis can still be underdogs and they can know it is in the bag.

The competitors themselves want a clear-cut advantage. Twelve months ago, Coutts and his counterpart at Prada, Francesco de Angelis, both said they thought that there could be a design breakthrough. Tom Schnackenberg, TNZ's head of syndicate and design co-ordinator, disagreed, saying he thought there would only be a number of small gains that would lead to an overall performance improvement. This, after he had already signed off the building of two boats with the hula, which every other designer thinks should not have been allowed under the rules.

The Alinghi team has since been subjected to a poisonous hate campaign which has led even some fellow Kiwis to feel ashamed or angry.

Coutts and his band of loyalists, Brad Butterworth, Murray Jones, Simon Daubney et al, have found an analytical trump in Germany's quadruple Olympic medallist, Jochen Schümann. If it comes to smarts round the track, they look formidable. If the breeze on the Hauraki Gulf is light, the TNZ turbocharger may not be so effective. If Alinghi's better mast and sails can create upwind advantage, they could be difficult to pass downhill. If, if, if...

Might the Cup come to Europe for the first time? The bookies do not think so.

FORMAT AND SCHEDULE: The America's Cup is decided over a best-of-nine series – the first to win five races takes the trophy. Races are held over 18.5-mile courses, three legs upwind, three legs downwind. They are scheduled to start each day at 13.15 local time, but may be delayed. Races are due to be held 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25 and 27 February and on 1 March. Reserve days are 2, 4 and 6 March.