Team NZ ace’s big call

Team New Zealand ace Glenn Ashby predicts the new foiling monohulls will produce ‘‘exceptional’’ match-racing and warns the dangers of capsizing will be ever-present.

The multi-hull era of the America’s Cup turned yachting’s greatest spectacle into something of a drag race with the boats rarely engaging in heated prestarts or tacking duels.

But Ashby senses from his time on board the new 75-foot monohulls that match-racing tactics will return in spectacular fashion.

‘‘Absolutely awesome’’ was Ashby’s succinct summation of the new boats when he discussed them on a Yachting New Zealand podcast.

‘‘At rest the boats are beautiful, they’re sleek, majestic. But in anger they’re beasts.

‘‘They tick all the boxes with performance, cutting edge speeds and technology.

‘‘But in a monohull sense, with the rig development they have done and manoeuvrability, I think the match racing side of things will be exceptional.

‘‘Time will tell when he eventually go racing but I think it will be exceptionally sensational.

‘‘It’s out of the box and going to test the boundaries to where they have never been pushed before.’’

Ashby answered some speculation about Emirates Team New Zealand’s early capsize of Te Aihe in testing, insisting it wasn’t intentional.

‘‘We don’t’ have a 20-tonne lead bulb to keep the boat from rolling over. You have to learn how far you can push, how far you can go, so when you come to a racing environment you can appreciate where that edge is.

‘‘When two boats go head-to-head and pushing each other hard, there’s a real chance of capsize.’’

The cancellation of the two world series regattas in Italy and England because of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting lockdown that left the boat-building and testing departments in limbo have been stressful for all teams.

They have also left them wondering about each other. Despite reconnaissance, Ashby claims they are still largely in the dark about how they compare to their opponents in the challenging fleet.

‘‘No we don’t,’’ was his quick reply when asked if Team New Zealand know how they stacked up against Luna Rossa, INEOS UK and American Magic.

‘‘We know there are massive areas of improvement we can undertake. The rate of knowledge and that steepness of the design curve is immense, particularly in development classes.

‘‘There are opportunities for development and gains. You can’t do everything you’d like, you have to pick and choose.

‘‘Only time will tell and that time is running out very quickly,’’ he said revering to the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown that saw Team New Zealand lose 7500 man hours on the build of their second boat that will be used to defend the America’s Cup in Auckland next March.

‘‘You have to be able to adapt. You have to be agile, stay on your toes and be aware of what the priorities are in a limited time frame,’’ he said.