Wide world of sport (part 1)

When it comes to sports...err I mean sport in New Zealand, you can sum it up in three words: sailing, cricket, and of course rugby. And like Metallica says, 'nothin else matters.'

This will be the first of a three-part series looking into sport. Today we'll talk about sailing.

I happened to arrive in Auckland (The City of Sails, as it were) during the inaugural 'Louis Vitton Pacific Series' regatta. An upstart event, but featuring the absolute best of the best sailing teams from around the globe nonetheless--including current America's Cup holders (and the Kiwi's arch rivals): Team Alinghi from Switzerland. Which of course begs the question: how is it that a land-locked country in the middle of Europe has the best sailing team in the world? But I digress. After eight days of racing, all comers had been properly dispatched by the two favorites, and the finals were set: the Kiwis vs. the Swiss. It really couldn't have been scripted any other way. I mean these two teams are the bitterest of rivals. Think Texas/OU or Cowboys/Redskins. Well, the winds ultimately favored the home crew, and the Kiwis put down the hated Swiss 3-1 in the best of five final series. And there was much rejoicing!


Interesting note: Did you know that sailing crews don't use the same boat for every race? There are simply two boats available, and the teams draw before each race to see which team will use which boat. For this regatta the boats were NZL89 and NZL91--supposedly the two newest, fastest, most high-tech America's Cup-class racing yachts in the world.

Two of their predecessor boats, NZL40 and NZL41 (both having raced in past America's Cup regattas) are available year round in Auckland's harbour for bookings. Picked up a brochure on it today. They say you can "Take the helm, exert energy on the grinders, or simply sit back and enjoy the ride." I'd absolutely love to do this before I put Auckland in my rear-view mirror. I mean how many people can say they've sailed in an actual America's Cup racing yacht? Well seeing as how it looks like I'll be here another few days while my car gets a new second-hand engine (how's that for an oxymoron?) installed, I'm gonna go tomorrow and sign up for a sail around the bay! Starboard is right and port is left, right?

Cheers!