BRING IT ON PITBULL
Sailing: Peter Burling’s message for America’s Cup rivals such as Jimmy Spithill
Rookie America’s Cup helmsman Peter Burling has a bullish response to the aggressive tactics that opponents are sure to employ against him in Bermuda, particularly in the starting box: ‘‘Bring it on’’.
Team New Zealand’s Burling, a superstar in the Olympic class 49er fleet racing, is working hard on developing the match-racing skills and tactics that will dominate the America’s Cup racing that starts on May 27 (NZ time).
He has to. Races can be won and lost in the penalty-risking jostling before the opening gun. And mistakes get magnified in the brutal one-on-one format, especially in these 20-mimute races featuring foiling catamarans capable of pushing towards 50 knots. The opposition can be gone literally in the blink of a salty eyelid.
Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill didn’t earn his ‘‘Pitbull’’ nickname for just his bark. There’s a real bite to his style of racing and he will smell blood in Bermuda.
Dean Barker (Team Japan) and Nathan Outteridge (Artemis Racing) also bring considerable cup experience to this 35th edition and Sir Ben Ainslie has the opportunity to turn his tactician’s role from San Francisco into something equally ruthless at the wheel of the British challenge.
Burling is ready to take them head-on. Without a second boat, he has been practising starting tactics against one of the team’s powerful chase boats.
But he’s eager to engage real opposition and that will come now the team is settled in Bermuda and ready to get involved in practice racing.
Asked if he sees himself and his pedal powered boat vulnerable to attacks in the pre-starts, the 26-year-old Burling didn’t shrink: ‘‘Bring it on I reckon. We are pretty happy with where we are at. I think we are in a pretty good space.’’
Burling believes the new class of boats, with their increased power and reduced crew size, puts the teams on a more even setting,
Bring it on I reckon. Peter Burling
negating his match-racing inexperience.
‘‘I don’t think anyone is really comfortable match-racing these boats at high speed yet ... definitely the experience of traditional match-racing is not as valuable as it’s been,’’ he said.
‘‘These boats are incredibly different. The closing speeds now can be 40 knots each way at each other, I don’t think anyone has ever seen things like that.
‘‘You look back at the prestarts of the last America’s Cup with the 72s and those boats definitely couldn’t go around the corner like these ones. It all looked incredibly docile back then compared to what we think is going to happen (this time).
‘‘So our inexperience kind of gets outweighed by innovation and doing things slightly differently and not being afraid to look outside the box and take it on. That’s something that we have been doing the whole way through – trying to be innovative and keep pushing on.
‘‘For us it’s all about making sure we are super clean around the course, super tidy and don’t make any unforced errors so that we can give ourselves a chance to make the right decisions when we get put under the pump and end up winning races.
‘‘That’s what we are here to do – win races and bring the cup back to New Zealand.’’
At this late stage Burling sees the starting box as a real area of gain as this competition evolves.
‘‘Looking at the other guys ... I think everyone is going to take some massive improvements from where we are now to where we end up.’’
Manoeuvres are fast and tricky and, without the luxury of a dedicated tactician like at previous cups, the big calls will come from Burling at the wheel and skipper Glenn Ashby who controls the massive wingsail.
Burling is loving the new boat and the challenges and responsibilities that come with trying to squeeze every bit of speed out of it for what promises to be the most competitive racing in the long history of the Auld Mug.
It’s a balancing act at times and already the quest for performance has seen a couple of capsizes by rival syndicates in Bermuda and Team New Zealand admitting to some ‘‘hairy moments’’ during their Auckland training.
‘‘I definitely have plenty on my hands where I am,’’ Burling chuckles.
‘‘At 20-plus wind strength, you see how quickly these things go. They definitely turn into a bit of a handful in a bit of breeze.
‘‘They are so far on the cutting edge, if you make the wrong move you can damage it and shut the whole place down for a couple of weeks.
‘‘So you are careful but it’s all about balance and how hard to push and when to back off and take it a little easier. That’s going to have to go on right through.
‘‘I’m trying to minimise the risk. But we have to push harder as well because we know all those other guys are pushing super hard.’’
Team New Zealand are comfortable with their position five weeks out from the start of racing. Their reconnaissance tells them they are well placed, though they are eager to find that out for themselves.
‘‘It’s always hard to tell until you line up. We know we are definitely not miles off but we also know we have to keep pushing.
‘‘We have a bar we are trying to reach with our performances and bits and pieces.
‘‘Looking at our opponents, everyone is doing foiling gybes and foiling tacks ... it comes down to the detail now.’’
Burling is known for his attention to detail.
It what set him and Blair Tuke apart in the 49er campaigns. It’s what earned them Olympic gold last year.
And he’s hoping the same recipe works on yachting’s biggest stage.