AFTER two months of intensive training in Auckland, the crew of GBR Challenge take their Christmas break this week before starting a new year that's potentially one of the most important in British yacht racing's recent history.

For the next fortnight, there will be no early morning gym visits, no daily briefing sessions and no worrying what the other syndicates are up to as crewmembers head out of Auckland with their families for some rest and relaxation.

Any ideas of taking part in the Sydney to Hobart race, traditionally a must-event for racing professionals, were scrapped after GBR Challenge management imposed a ban on the grounds it was too demanding and posed an unnecessary risk to the health and safety of Britain's elite sailing squad.

Since they arrived in Auckland in October, the preparations for the Louis Vuitton Challenger finals which begin next October have been meticulous and the training regime gruelling.

Each morning at 6am, the 28 sailors cross the road from their apartments and spend an hour and a half working on their strength and stamina.

According to Southampton crewmember James Stagg, the British America's Cup crew have been transformed into a burly bunch of beefcakes after spending hours lifting weights.

"The primary grinders have all bulked up but we're all a lot fitter and stronger - our fitness levels are measured every five weeks and the improvements have been amazing," said Stagg, a foredeck specialist and a ex-student at King Edward VI school.

"At this stage, we need to be fit just to survive our daily routine," he explained.

By 8.30am, they are having their first briefing before rigging up their two training boats GBR 44 and 52 and putting them in the water for a four, sometimes five hour training session on the water. This week they have been racing with the squad, dividing into two crews competing against each other on proper America's Cup courses in the Hauraka Gulf.

"We deliberately swapped the crews around because we were not trying to pick an A and B squad.

He said: "The primary aim was to test the logistical side of getting the boats in the water and to the start line, with all the support ribs alongside and the weather data with the right people at the right time.

"It's a mammoth exercise and we needed to test our procedures. It all went very well - no great disasters, though we did scratch the boat getting her off the dock. TNZ pranged their boat this week, so I think we are doing okay.

Weeks of good breezy conditions gave way to two days of eight to 12 knots of wind and flat waters giving the crews little opportunity for hard competitive racing.

But conditions could be identical come October 2002 and Ian Walker's squad must make the most of them.

"We're here to simulate circumstances we will havenext encounter," said Stagg (pictured right). "We'll be racing at least every other day and can't have one com-bination of crew stronger than another.

"We need to know the weather and the waters and, by the time the Challenger finals start, we need to be settled here.

"Everything needs to be familiar, so we are finding out where things are.

"So far it has worked really well. We are slightly ahead of where we thought we'd be at this stage. We're not fully competitive with the other guys yet, though the only way we will find out how we compare is when we sail against them."

The chance for comparison will come in February when four of the syndicates race in the International Regatta in two days of fleet racing, followed by three days of match racing and a spectacular finish under Auckland Harbour Bridge.

The One World Challenge from Seattle, the Victory Challenge from Sweden and Peter Harrison's GBR team have accepted invitations to race with Team New Zealand in mainly 2000 generation boats.

Afterwards, Stagg will return to the UK to put the finishing touches to GBR 70, Britain's new boat currently in build in Cowes. All the crew have had an input into the design -it will be launched and initially trialled in the Solent in April.

Tomorrow, the crew sign off until January 3, though Sir Peter Blake's memorial on Sunday, following his funeral in Emsworth last Friday, will see them back together for a few sombre hours.