Kiwi Cup heroes sail off on next mission
IT’S back to the future for Peter Burling, Blair Tuke, Josh Junior and Andy Maloney as they return to the scene of their first America’s Cup success.
Fresh off their defence of the Auld Mug at Auckland 2021, the talented quartet head to Bermuda this month for the start of the second season of SailGP, a global series contested in the modified 50-foot foiling catamarans used at the America’s Cup there in 2017.
Comparisons are going to be inevitable on the back of the giant step the latest America’s Cup took with the revolutionary 75-foot foiling monohulls.
Both classes exceed 50 knots in top speed, but the challenge for the cats will be to hold their own in the eye of a public who were fascinated by the intense action in Auckland.
The big names are all there with Sir Ben Ainslie (UK), Jimmy Spithill (USA) heading their teams along with the likes of Nathan Outteridge (Japan) and Tom Slingsby (Australia).
Syndicates from Spain, France and Denmark are also involved in an eight regatta season to be sailed in Bermuda (April 24-25), Taranto, Italy (June 5-6), Plymouth, England (July 17-18), Aarhus, Denmark (August 20-21), Saint-Tropez, France (September 11-12), Cadiz, Spain (October 9-10), Christchurch, New Zealand, (January 29-30) and the $1.4 million winner-takes-all grand final in San Francisco, US (March 26-27).
The New Zealand SailGP team, brought into the fold by Kiwi great Sir Russell Coutts, who oversees the series, won’t have the benefit of the cyclors that were central to their Cup success in Bermuda four years ago with a strict one-design class rule hanging over the supplied
catamarans that feature crews of five sailors.
Grinders Marcus Hansen and Louis Sinclair, who were also part of Team New Zealand’s success, are in the SailGP squad which has taken on the gender equality issue with Liv Mackay and Erica Dawson brought into the wider group to gain crucial foiling experience.
‘‘We believe a constant high performance environment gives our team members incredible development opportunities and keeps them at the top of their game,’’ Tuke said.
It’s a perfect setting for the core of the Team New Zealand crew to stay busy in the heart of the foiling game – and conveniently at someone else’s expense.
Burling and Tuke face a busy schedule, squeezing in an Olympic training camp in Northland before their departure to Bermuda.
With their America’s Cup commitments now completed, they are working their SailGP programme around their defence of the 49er gold medal at Tokyo 2021.
The quick-fire SailGP format has noticeable differences to the America’s Cup apart from the boats.
The two-day regattas feature five fleet races involving all teams. The top two teams then square off in a match race to be crowned event champion.
The big challenge for SailGP will be to complete its ambitious programme. Having had a successful debut in 2019 when the F50 cats were named boat of the year, the 2020 season was suspended after the opening regatta in Sydney and eventually cancelled as the global Covid-19 pandemic took its toll.
The Kiwi SailGP squad are looking to get vaccinated for their campaign and strict health protocols are being enforced.
In Bermuda, SailGP’s Covidsafe plan includes reducing the number of people at events, the reduction of hospitality, and regular testing.
‘. . . a constant high performance environment gives our team members incredible development opportunities.’ BLAIR TUKE