Two practice wins for Team NZ boosts confidence for Cup tilt
Team New Zealand have wasted no time proving their speed against their America’s Cup rivals, bagging two wins from three on the final day of practice racing in Bermuda.
All six teams took part in a series of match races in 8-10 knots of breeze yesterday competing on the course that will be used when the event officially starts next month.
Having launched their boat less than a week ago, Team NZ got off to the perfect start with a promising first-up victory over early frontrunners Artemis Racing.
The Kiwi syndicate followed that up with a win over French outfit Groupama, before being beaten in their last race of the day by Team Japan, who had earlier in the day beaten Cup holders Oracle Team USA.
All-in-all, Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling said it had been a satisfying opening race outing.
‘‘It was fantastic to finally have some other teams to race against and to feel the heat of competition one-on-one match racing.
‘‘We would have loved to race everyone today, but we still managed to have some good line ups both upwind and downwind It was fantastic to finally have some other teams to race against and to feel the heat of competition one-on-one match racing. with the teams we didn’t race and there isn’t much in performance so manoeuvres and perfection in execution will be vital.’’
Given they were the last to arrive in Bermuda, Team NZ’s performance would have been a confidence booster.
Particularly their win against Artemis, who were the leading boat in the earlier practice rounds and were yet to lose to Oracle.
America’s Cup Event Authority boss and Oracle chief executive Sir Russell Coutts gave a glowing assessment of the Swedish syndicate’s efforts thus far. ‘‘Artemis Racing are still the form team. I think if we were racing the America’s Cup today, they would be the favourite,’’ the former Team NZ skipper said in a video blog to the America’s Cup website.
‘‘The revolution with this America’s Cup has been quite incredible. A lot is still changing, it’s too early to predict who will be [the fastest] but the performance of the boats has been impressive ... we’re getting close to that 50-knot speed barrier.’’
Like his helmsman Burling, Team NZ skipper Glenn Ashby was pleased with how the first proper hit-out against their rivals went.
Ashby said it definitely helped the team moving forward.
‘‘We learnt plenty today. But the main thing that sticks out is just how close all of the boats are in performance, and therefore how close the racing is going to be.
‘‘It could very well come down to the finest design detail or smallest mistake on the water that is the difference between winning and losing at any stage of the competition.
‘‘The team has done an excellent job so far, still we need to make sure we keep pushing hard, as every other team will do the same.’’
The 35th America’s Cup starts on May 27, NZ time.