If you need a miracle, Spithill’s your man
Jimmy Spithill’s training partner has warned against writing off Oracle, believing the America’s Cup holders have the ability to return tomorrow ’’and start winning races straight off the bat’’.
Britain’s Chris Draper was wing trimmer on Team Japan, the sister syndicate of Oracle Team USA.
There’s a nerdy side to Peter Burling that is proving as important to Team New Zealand as his undoubted skills on the wheel of Aotearoa.
Emirates Team New Zealand design boss Dan Bernasconi has talked up the engineering skills of helmsman Burling as being crucial to the rapid development of their radical America’s Cup catamaran.
And the team’s technical director says skipper Glenn Ashby’s intimate knowledge of the wingsail has also been vital to the success of the syndicate in Bermuda.
It seems the off-the-water talents of the key sailors are playing a huge part with their feel for the boat and suggestions for improvements helping Team New Zealand’s innovative design team.
Burling is halfway through an engineering degree and Ashby, a multi-hull specialist, has a history in sail design and construction, operating a loft in Australia.
‘‘Both Pete and Glenn are a massive asset to the design team because they are intimately involved in everything we do. That goes for the other guys as well – Blair [Tuke] and Andy [Maloney] and Josh [Junior] and the others. They are really involved in every step of the progress,’’ Bernasconi told Fairfax.
Burling has been likened to New Zealand greatest America’s Cup sailor Russell Coutts, not just for his skills on the wheel but because of his interest and understanding of what makes a boat go fast.
‘‘It’s certainly a massive asset for a sailor to have a good understanding of the engineering side of the boat, what makes a boat work, the forces on the boat and all the systems,’’ Bernasconi said.
‘‘Obviously if you have a good understanding of those systems, then you can contribute a lot more. When you are the end user you are obviously in a good place to know how they can be improved.
‘‘That’s exactly the same with Glenn on the wing. Because he understands so well how the