French yachts arrive for America's Cup

Agence France-Presse, Auckand

New yachts for the French bid to win sport's oldest trophy, yachting's America's Cup, arrived here Wednesday to a quiet protest by the environmental organization Greenpeace.

The Le Defi Areva syndicate is backed by the French state- owned nuclear power industry Areva.

Earlier this year in France Greenpeace rammed a powerboat into the side of one of the Le Defi yachts causing damage and a loss of a month's training for the syndicate.

But it was quieter here as the Le Defi Areva team unloaded two new America's Cup class boats, FRA 69 and FRA 79, and returned their training boat, an original Team New Zealand Black Magic boat.

On Oct. 1 nine syndicates will begin round robin racing for the Louis Vuitton Cup which gives the winner the right to challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup early next year.

"We are delighted to be back in Auckland for another crack at the America's Cup," Le Defi manager Xavier de Lesquen.

"For the last three years, we have been building up to this event in Lorient, France, honing our designs, our skills and our mental toughness in preparation for the Louis Vuitton Cup 2003."

He said 30,000 hours of research and development had gone into FRA 69 which will be their race boat.

As the boats were towed into the America's Cup base a handful of Greenpeace demonstrators welcomed them.

"We want to ensure that people understand that our opposition is not to the America's Cup nor to the French team but focused directly on Areva, one of the worst nuclear polluters on the planet," Greenpeace campaigner Bunny McDiamid said in a statement.

She accused Areva of discharging nuclear waste into the ocean, and said the group was "intimately connected" to French nuclear weapons and shipped nuclear material on the world's oceans.

Confirming that they do not intend to disrupt the racing, Greenpeace ended their protest by delivering to Le Defi a basket of organic wine, cheeses and a nuclear-free seas flag. The parcel was accepted.

Le Defi says they have a budget of NZ$50 million (US$23 million) but that their team was small and highly professional.

The first America's Cup race was off Britain in 1851. France has had a solid if unsuccessful history in the cup highlighted in the 1970s when French legend Baron Bich developed the celebrated passion for matchracing.