Sailing: TNZ opt for hull extensions

The question mark over whether Team New Zealand will use their secret weapon, underwater hull appendages, on the yacht they will use to defend the America's Cup next month was removed overnight as both their yachts were unveiled with underbody hull extensions, both forward and aft of the keel.

If they deliver the performance gains which have been predicted, then it will not matter which of the two they bring to the start line of America's Cup XXXI on 15 February. What they have done is legeal, but the America's Cup design rule is dead.

The two finalists in the Louis Vuitton Cup elimination trials, Alinghi and Oracle BMW, who on Saturday begin their best-of-nine race series, yesterday had to name the yachts they will use in both the Louis Vuitton Cup final and the match itself.

There were no surprises there, as the Alinghi team, from Switzerland, said they would continue with the yacht that has served them so well so far, SUI 64. Their opponents, Oracle BMW, of San Francisco, also announced that they would continue with a yacht that they hope they have considerably improved since they lost 0-4 to Alinghi in their best-of-seven semi-final.

Fortunately, the structure of the Louis Vuitton Cup allowed Oracle a second chance at a place in the final in a repêchage against OneWorld, of Seattle. Chris Dickson and his crew made no mistakes there, going through 4-0 against a team that came in carrying a penalty-generated minus-one scoreline and then failed both in the boat speed and sailing smarts competition.

As the great unveiling took place overnight it seemed everything would be settled on the water as the shoreside wrangling was settled. Yet to be agreed is the use of umpires on board, rather than just in chase boats, and the use of electronic performance measuring equipment, some of which has been common practice for many years, but only in late December was ruled illegal by the jury.

That rare commodity, common consent, can unravel that. As to which yacht is fastest, that will take another month to decide yet, but the Cup will definitely be lifted by a Kiwi; TNZ is skippered by Dean Barker, Alinghi by Russell Coutts and Oracle BMW by Dickson.