Team NZ will win Cup . . . say Oracle

Oracle’s boat builders have conceded the Kiwis have a better boat and are likely to win the America’s Cup.

In a frank interview this week, Tim Smyth, manager of the Oracle- owned Core Builders Composites in Warkworth, conceded Team New Zealand were odds on to win the Auld Mug.

“You’d have to put your money behind Team New Zealand at the moment with the boat speed they’ve shown which seems to be coming from their foil and wing package,” Smyth told the Weekend Herald.

Team New Zealand head into tomorrow morning’s racing in Bermuda knowing they could claim the trophy as early as Monday.

And today the Weekend Herald can reveal secret planning is under way to host the competition here in four years’ time — and a location has already been found.

Smyth said much of Team New Zealand’s advantage was down to sailing and manoeuvring.

“You’ve got a young, vigorous team in New Zealand . . . who I think have choreographed the handling of that boat beautifully,” he said.

Asked what Oracle could do to turn things around, Smyth quipped that Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill could work on his starts.

Staff at Southern Spars in Auckland, who built Team New Zealand’s boat, are also confident they have the winning catamaran. They revealed this week that TNZ’s boat was considerably lighter than Oracle, thanks to carbon- fibre technology developed in- house, as was the crew. That gave them an advantage in being able to get up on the foils quicker and more easily in light winds.

Southern Spars’ marketing manager, Ben Gladwell, said he didn’t think there was much Spithill could do at this stage.

“If anyone is going to make gains it is probably Team New Zealand. If I was Oracle I’d be going sailing . . . I’d be trying to find different ways of using the gear they already have.”

Smyth also revealed that Oracle tried hard to sign up Team New Zealand’s brilliant Australian skipper Glenn Ashby but were outbid.