Team NZ enter comfort zone
Team New Zealand will head into self-imposed exile pretty comfortable with their position as they eye the defence of the America’s Cup.
There will be no complacency though as they face 11 weeks on their own.
With the world series regatta done and dusted in Auckland, the Kiwi syndicate have learned plenty about themselves and picked up crucial data off their opponents. They know they have a fast boat, but they also know they have some more than useful opposition.
The last four days were the only opportunity Team New Zealand had to race against the three challengers as the Kiwis returned the America’s Cup to one of its most tricky traditions of the defender waiting and watching to see who eventually fronts against them.
Peter Burling and his champion crew maximised those opportunities. As fickle as the weather was over the last two days, it did give them a broad spectrum of conditions which was a massive bonus.
While they didn’t operate at the top end of the 23 knots limit that will be in place for their next appearance which will be the America’s Cup match that starts on March 6, they got a good feel for the mid-range winds over the first two days and the bottom end of the scale over the second two days that saw the breeze hovering around the 6.5 knots limit.
They looked comfortable at either of that zone and the likelihood is, the America’s Cup match – a best-of-13 races series – will be sailed in the light to moderate breezes that tend to dominate an Auckland summer.
Italian challenger Luna Rossa have admitted they built their boat for that range, based on exhaustive historical research.
Think back to Team New Zealand’s 2000 and 2003 defences when racing was frequently on hold.
Right now the lighter breezes remain the biggest challenge for these boats, none more so than British syndicate INEOS Team UK who simply can’t move.
But all the teams had their moments stuck on their hulls rather than up on their foils, a potentially fatal position in terms of race results.
Expect that to be a huge focus for the syndicates over the next couple of months – Team New Zealand in training and the three challengers in practice and out on the race course where they will battle from January 15 for the right to take on the Kiwis.
Getting the right foils and sail combinations to operate smoothly through those light conditions will be paramount.
Don’t worry about these guys in a brisk wind – that’s a breeze. Eliminating being bogged down has been exposed as a potential Achilles heel to a new class of boat that has genuinely impressed in
every other department.
It’s a massive test to sail and so it should be at yachting’s pinnacle event.
In coming up with the concept, Team New Zealand have placed an enormous assignment in front of their champion crew and the three challengers that have fronted in Auckland at huge expense.
It’s what makes it so fascinating. It’s a development class and the leap from the first generation boats to these second editions has been significant.
These sailors are still discovering the secrets to the new AC75s. They will unravel them.
The likes of Burling, Jimmy Spithill, Dean Barker and Sir Ben Ainslie have been at the forefront of the foiling revolution.
Right now it’s in another evolution phase in the monohull phase. The fascination is, how far can it evolve in three months?