Makoto Namba is now confirmed as skipper in preference to Manchester-born John Cu lter. Had been expected to use some daring engineering but now leaning to cautious conservatism.TEAM NEW ZEALAND Just the sort of professional and talented crew that any football manager would give his eye teeth for. Difficult campaign to evaluate.FRANCE AMERICA Marc Pajot has had to negotiate some tricky financial twists and turns, before turning a two-boat programme into reality. He has Harold Cudmore and the Australian David Kilponen to bring an international feel to a campaign which relies heavily on the flair of designer, Philippe Briand.NIPPON CHALLENGE In San Diego for the past year, a tactic the other syndicates eschewed, their programme was disrupted by the dismasting of the first of two new boats soon after it arrived.

This is his fourth appearance in an event that has brought frustration for him and it offers a British-born helmsman, Chris Law, who sailed for the UK in Fremantle in 1986-7, the chance to sail for Australia, having made his home there. A tight team.SYDNEY ‘95Syd Fischer may have a quiet smile in the knowledge that he has a fast boat out of the same stable as Bertrand’s thoroughbreds. He will drive the boat downwind, his co-helmsman Rod Davis will be in charge at the starts and on the upwind legs. John Kostecki and Kenny Read are smart sailors, John Hopkins and Andreas Josenhans provide a steadying influence.THE CHALLENGERS ONEAUSTRALIA John Bertrand has put together the classic America’s Cup campaign, recruiting the right people early, securing the financial package, using technology from all over the world, and appearing to have developed a fast boat. Should win in an even race, so the only questionis whether the designers have come up with a fast enough boat.PACT ‘95 YOUNG AMERICA The key man here is John Marshall, taking part in his eighth Cup, who has put together what may be the best-managed research programme.

The set-up means that the skipper, Kevin Mahaney, is left to concentrate on sailing the boat, on which he is backed up by a strong afterguard. The crew are fit, hungry and well-drilled, but short on experience.STARS & STRIPES Dennis Conner has all the necessary experience and guile, a strong crew who can anticipate, react and recover, and the best afterguard (Tom Whidden, Paul Cayard and Jim Brady) in the fleet. The new boat will not be available until mid-February and it is on its superior speed that hopes are pinned. All women on the race course, perhaps, but backed up by the scientists, engineers and managers who crafted victory for Bill Koch in 1992. It would be nice to feel that the 1995 America’s Cup is wide open. But the hard reality is that American technology isstill going to be awfully difficult to beat.AMERICA’s cup contenders THE DEFENDERS AMERICA3The Women’s Team.

In the past, the defender was able to keep his choice of yacht secret until the morning of the first race, while the challengers had to reveal theirs three monthsearlier.Now there is a common declaration date of 9 April and those syndicates with two boats, like Peter Blake’s Team New Zealand, who have boats for differing wind strengths will be able to pick and choose during the round-robin stages.The results in the early skirmishes will probably bear little resemblance to what happens during the crucial high scoring later rounds. It is the settled, conventional approach, but it can prove inflexible when difficult decisions for change have to be made.Of the seven challengers for the Louis Vuitton Cup, the banker to go through is John Bertrand’s oneAustralia. The two Kiwi syndicates, France, and Japan should chase the other three places in the semi-final. Changes in the rules, which allow new boats and major modifications throughout the series have made it more difficult to sort out who will progress in the 29th America’s Cup.At least the odds are not so heavily stacked against the challengers this time.

The women will rotate the roles, just as Koch did when winning the cup in 1992, and one of the leading figures, JJ Isler said: “There will probably never be a skipper.” She will start and be a tactician, Leslie Egnot will do a lot of the steering, Courtney Becker will be navigator, and Dawn Riley will also be doing some helming.Pact ’95’s Kevin Mahaney says he will skipper and steer throughout, with John Kostecki, Kenny Read and John Hopkins forming an impressive afterguard.Most of the challengers will work in the same way. The crew perceives what is going on and develops the tool to win the cup over a five-month period.” By that he meant that the crew’s experience, which is lacking in the women’s boat, can make the difference.Cayard’s own role is now tactical, but Whidden made it clear that Cayard will also be seen on the helm, perhaps even at the vital starts. If it is not, they will be washed away.If the boat merely matches the others, we will see whether the women can out-think and outmanoeuvre the opposition.Yesterday Paul Cayard pointedly said: “Really the game is the long game. If it is quicker than the others, they may be able to catch up.