the crew.

Scurrying about, pulling on this, releasing that, hiking, hoisting, lowering, climbing, twisting, turning...in short doing whatever it takes to aid the smooth, fast running of the vessel.

And for the most part the crew operate under a cloak of anonymity, allowing the skipper to receive the greatest acclaim.

New Zealand's Simon Daubney is one such person. He's here in Bermuda along with fellow crew-mates Brad Butterworth and Warwick Fleury, charged with the task of once again painting his `boss', Russell Coutts, as the best match racer around.

However, Daubney has no reservations regarding his and others' position in the long shadow cast by the reigning America's Cup champion helmsman and winner of the first four events in the Brut Sailing Series. Conversely he enjoys his status.

This year has been one of their most rewarding with the team having already earned a $250,000 bonus for winning at least three Brut regattas -- they have actually won four, including the Brut Royal Lymington Cup, Brut Cup of San Francisco, Brut Cup of France and Brut Cup of New York, while most recently they added the Word Match Racing Championships to their list of triumphs.

"It's a lot of fun (sailing with Russell) and that's been a major thing about the tour this year, that we've really had fun and enjoyed it and I think that's part of the reason we've been so successful,'' said Daubney, who along with Butterworth and Fleury was forced into a waiting game on Monday and Tuesday after Coutts missed his Monday morning flight from New York, finally arriving yesterday afternoon.

"We don't get stressed up much and tend to take it pretty easy and have a laugh from time to time. You need to do that when you're spending so much time together, so it's fun, and while it gets stressful during close races, it's pretty relaxed.'' Another factor aiding the team's success is that they are just that...a team, one which has operated in tandem throughout 1996.

"One of the things we've really worked on doing is keeping the same team together,'' continued Daubney, the jib and spinnaker trimmer as well as having responsibility for the foredeck. "We've had the same crew in each of the four Brut events that we've done and the same crew for the World (Match Racing) Championships, so there's been some good teamwork.

"At the end of last year when we didn't do so well on the circuit after winning the America's Cup there was perhaps some motivation problems and as a result we lost the number one ranking. But this year we set ourselves a goal of trying to win that quarter-of-a-million prize, of regaining our number one ranking and also we set the goal of winning the World Championships.

"We've practiced before each event, taken them all seriously and it's come together for us...it's been a great year.'' Practice in Bermuda hasn't been possible this year due to the late arrival of Coutts and that's something which could help those seeking to deny the group a sweep of the series.

Daubney pointed to the likes of defending champion Peter Gilmour of Australia, along with Peter Holmberg of the US Virgin Islands and Ed Baird as prime contenders.

"Gilley's always really tough in these boats, Peter Holmberg's been sailing pretty well and practising in New York in these boats. Any of those guys could go all the way and it's also really easy to get knocked out early by the local guys and others that have sailed through the qualifying.

"We've sailed pretty well, but we've also had a lot of good breaks go for us this year and I wouldn't go around calling ourselves unbeatable at this stage.

A lot of the other teams have been watching closely what we're doing and we still have to work real hard for every race.'' First up today for the Kiwis will be fellow countryman Murray Jones, often a team-mate rather than adversary.

Daubney promised the friendship would be forgotten during the period on the water, although he noted Jones and crew as good friends.

"We've been helping those guys as much as we can in giving them information on the boats and all that stuff, but all that's stopped now,'' he concluded with a chuckle.