Testing times on the
America’s Cup defenders g exclusive look at the develo new boat and a few insight rivals.
Team New Zealand are 30 minutes into a vital testing session when it all comes to a sudden halt. One minute Te Aihe is foiling beautifully, the next moment the 75-foot monohull splashes down with Peter Burling’s voice coming over the intercom, reporting a problem towards the bow.
Back on the chase boat where a mix of team management, designers and spare crew watch the high-speed action unexpectedly stall just metres away, Grant Dalton laments: ‘‘It’s probably a $5 bracket.’’
He’s not far wrong as an expensive instrument designed to measure wind speed off the front of the boat dangles precariously above the water, literally hanging by an electrical thread.
It’s an example of how the smallest component can threaten a multi-million dollar boat.
It’s not all plain sailing when an America’s Cup team is coming to grips with a new design, particularly when that boat is a state-of-the-art affair that is having its boundaries pushed so hard and so fast.
America’s Cup holders Emirates Team New Zealand are doing just that and on this day the Sunday Star-Times is invited along for the ride.
There’s a long check-list to work through as modifications are put to the test. Small gains can take extraordinary amounts of time to eventuate.
The morning’s light conditions on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf make an ideal stage for the massive 200sqm Code Zero sail to be trialled. This is the sail that will be employed when winds are at the bottom end of the limit.
The sail is a tricky beast but it’s frighteningly effective. In around 7 knots of breeze, Team New Zealand are finding incredible speed until the frustrating finish to that phase.
The setback is quickly shrugged off because there’s always something else to work on.
The salt-crusted crew take a breather and refuel – plenty of nuts, fruit, chocolate, energy bars and fluid are consumed – while the shore-based