Boat-builder Johnny Smullen is in his element this week. Since joining the legendary Denis Conner and his team in Auckland, New Zealand, for the America's Cup, Stars & Stripes has moved from ranked outsider to poll position in the Louis Vuitton Challenger series.

This week, the second of two major construction jobs is testing the Dun Laoghaire-born Smullen who has played a pivotal role in keeping USA55 in contention.

Although the America's Cup proper does not get under way for another eight weeks, the Challenger series is proving a closefought affair with 11 syndicates having entered to race against elimination.

With the start of the New Year, six teams have reached the semi-finals after three round-robin series before Christmas. At this point, each of the remaining crews must sail 10 races, twice against each of the other boats, to pare the field down to two finalists.

In modern times, the America's Cup has become known for its technology race over human ability. Teams equipped with two boats for testing and research were automatically assumed to have an edge over single boat teams. That assumption has since been turned on its head as two of the six semi-finalists have "made do" with single-hull campaigns.

Pushing the technological barriers hasn't been without incident however. Early in the roundrobin series, Ed Baird's Young America, the challenger of record for the New York Yacht Club, dramatically snapped in two. Although repaired since and fit for racing, the syndicate has since been eliminated.

Team Dennis Conner (TDC) suffered a major problem before Christmas when Stars & Stripes' transom parted company with the hull. Smullen and his team moved rapidly into action and USA55 was soon back in action to qualify comfortably for the semi-final cut-off. The incident, at that point, did not dampen expectations that Conner was likely to progress to the Challenger finals.

Up to recently, the two favourites to face off the defenders, Team New Zealand, were the Italian Prada campaign and America One. The early start by Francesco de Angelis and his squad saw them heavily touted since the outset, until Paul Cayard's success in the last Whitbread Race brought him into sharp focus as the favoured US syndicate.

With the marginal teams now eliminated, most race experts appear to agree that the remaining boats are close to being technically equal, and emphasis is once again returning to tactics and talent.

Bearing this out, TDC started the New Year full of resolve. A clean three-race win out of their 10 so far bodes well for the rest of the series, and the sailor most associated with the "auld mug" is once again to the fore. So far, Stars & Stripes has beaten Nippon Challenge and Le Defi Francais, while defeating the mighty Prada team in a wildwind race has been the greatest boost.

But the new year began just like the old year ended for Smullen. The third race against the French saw a collision that smashed the American boat's stern again; a 24-hour delay to racing was granted for repairs. This is unlikely to dampen spirits in the TDC camp as their place in the finals next month looms closer.

The activity ashore typifies the America's Cup. Boat-building and design work goes hand-in-hand with event politics. Relatively low-profile and quietly waiting for action is the Defender, who has been keen to get a look-in on some real racing against potential challengers.

Up until recently, the "no quarter given" attitude of the challengers has presented a united front to the Kiwis, who have maximised the nature of the event to suit themselves according to the variety of rules and legal documents available to it.

Therefore, the five other teams were dismayed when the Nippon Challenge team took to the waters of the Hauraki Gulf to pace against the Black Magic defender. Most sent support tenders to monitor the trials, and while all reports seemed to point towards indiscernible differences other than those recorded by the electronics on board, the action by the Japanese to accept the invitation from Russell Coutts was questionable.

"I would say we're a little bit confused," said Dawn Riley, skipper of America True. "I don't see how it helps the challengers to sail against Team New Zealand."