FORGET THE CUP

Sailing: Team NZ wants the Auld Mug but first the challengers are lining up

Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby has a message for Kiwis – forget about the America’s Cup for the moment, it’s going to take a huge effort just to get through the challenger series.

Four years ago Team New Zealand had a cake-walk through the Louis Vuitton Cup to earn the right to take on Oracle Team USA for the Auld Mug.

There were only three challengers and the Kiwis sailed through with a 16-1 record, their only loss coming through gear failure in a 7-1 demolition of Italy’s Luna Rossa in the final.

This time there are five challenging syndicates to contend with along with Oracle who, arrogantly, have put themselves in the roundrobin mix of 30 races over the first nine days, starting next Saturday.

There's no question that just making it through the challenger series is going to be a huge ask in itself. Glenn Ashby

Ashby doubted any team would keep a clean slate such was the competitive look to the fleet, which has been helped by some onedesign elements to the 50-foot foiling catamarans and further boosted by an all-out technology war. ’’One thing is for sure, its absolutely going to be a yacht race between all the teams. There’s nobody appears at this stage to have any sort of big advantage over anyone else. From what I’ve seen on the water it is very much going to be a yacht race,’’ Ashby said, thrilled to have his team very much in the mix.

‘‘It’s going to be a real battle ... super intense. It’s going to be very, very competitive, much more so through the challenger series than what it was in San Francisco four years ago. There’s no question that just making it through the challenger series is going to be a huge ask in itself.

‘‘There are a lot of teams that have put a huge amount of time and effort in over the last three or four years. They have been training here for a long time and they have done a lot of inhouse racing and they look very, very strong.’’

Team New Zealand believe defenders Oracle have genuine speed. They also have the luxury of testing that against their five rivals before enjoying two weeks off to fine-tune before the Cup final.

Team New Zealand need no reminding of Oracle’s ability to react under pressure. Their remarkable comeback from 8-1 down last time to slowly but surely overhaul Team New Zealand still grates with the Kiwis who looked to have a real edge in their foiling but had the Americans eventually better them at their own game.

Australian Ashby sees big differences between San Francisco and Bermuda in general and marvels at how his team have pushed through to be a serious contender again.

‘‘Last campaign we did a great job back in New Zealand and developed and really pushed the bar along. We had a good run into the campaign and developed a lot further. This one has been a big challenge for the team,’’ he said of the funding struggles and working their way through regatta structure changes.

‘‘To be honest, a couple of years ago we were looking down the barrel of having the door shut. So to be here with a fantastic team and a race yacht that hopefully will be able to be in the mix, is quite an achievement in itself.’’

None more so than Ashby, the multiple world title winning multihull specialist who has helped his young star skipper Peter Burling work through the intricacies of handling the super-powerful catamaran on the back of an outstanding skiff career that earned he and crew mate Blair Tuke silver and gold in the 49er class at the last two Olympics.

If Team New Zealand can keep their unique boat in one piece – no small feat considering what’s happened to them and others in the buildup – then it will take a good team to beat them.

They should avoid being the one team to be eliminated early after the double round-robin. That looks like being Team France though Britain’s Ben Ainslie Racing are struggling for speed.

From there it will be a dogfight between the Kiwis, resurgent Artemis Racing and Team Japan to earn the right to take on Oracle.