Friday, November 5 With first round over, fleet readies for real racing
	By Gary Jobson ESPN
	AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- For the first four days of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the racing was instructive and congenial. And then it all fell apart as several collisions caused major breakdowns. In addition, moderately strong winds forced additional postponements, and the challenger fleet did not appear ready. Several teams asked for postponements and were granted their requests, frustrating other challengers who hoped to get Round Robin 1 behind them to get changes made to their boats. Early in the trials, defending America's Cup champion Team New Zealand looked lonely off training by itself. But by the end, the Kiwis had to be smiling at the disarray. Asked if he would like to tune up against other boats, New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts said, "We'd like to sail against the challengers. Whether they let us or not is a different matter. It works both ways. If we end up faster, they'll say we should have sailed against them. If they end up faster, I guess they'll say the decision was right." The winds for the first several days of the first round were lighter than expected. Several boats, including Dennis Conner's Star & Stripes and Nippon, were geared for heavy weather with more ballast and less sail area, and it cost them. Configuring the boat for the anticipated weather will be the crucial decision for sailors and designers as the challenge series continues. The weather in New Zealand is unpredictable and the wind can change dramatically over the course of a two-hour race in both direction and velocity. The best all-around boats are Young America, Prada and AmericaOne, in that order. These three are separated from the rest of the fleet by a large gap. The intrigue at this point centers on which boats will reach the semifinals (six boats advance). The first three round robins will decide that issue. Victories were worth one point in the first round robin, and will be worth four points in the second round. In the third round robin, a victory is worth nine points. Of the eleven challengers, five teams have built two boats. It will be interesting to see if any of the single-boat programs are able to defeat the two-boat programs. The crew work on all the boats was uneven, a direct result of late launching and little time for crew training. Round robin 2 begins Saturday, Nov. 6. All the teams have been working overtime to get their boats ready. Workers and crew have been arriving at the compounds by 6:30 every morning as the stakes increase with each round of racing. Under the current match racing rules, the starboard boat is allowed to hunt the port tack boat when entering the starting gate at the five-minute signal. This inevitably forces a luffing match. The on-the-water umpires in speedy, rubber craft spend a lot of time circling the race boats. I think the scene is obtrusive to spectators -- a better vantage point for the umpires would be a helicopter. The overall scene in New Zealand is fantastic. Everyone in Auckland follows the races closely. The 328-meter (1,000-foot) Sky Tower overlooking the Viaduct Basin has the America's Cup 2000 logo emblazoned on it, a constant reminder to citizens and visitors that the races are going on. Any sailing fan with a chance to travel to New Zealand would appreciate the sailing-mad country. In many ways it reminds me of Annapolis, Md. It also makes me wonder how that city would handle hosting such an event; the Whitbread certainly worked nicely. Gary Jobson is ESPN's lead sailing analyst. He is covering the Louis Vuitton Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.		ALSO SEE Young Australia leases new boat