Why 2023 is moving year in the
Teams will set up base in Barcelona this year but, writes Duncan Johnstone, it’s the behind the scenes moves that will determine if Team NZ can hold on to the Auld Mug.
It’s moving year in the America’s Cup cycle. Much like the third round of a golf major, this is the period that will set up the real hopes of success in a four-year campaign.
Those in the know will say that Barcelona 2024 will likely be won or lost on the decisions made in 2023, when the builds of the lone AC75s that teams can race at the next Cup get under way. Some irreversible design concepts are about to become reality.
It will also be a literal move for the five confirmed teams who will all spend the European summer in the Spanish hotspot, getting acquainted with the unique conditions on offer and savouring the building atmosphere of one of the world’s truly great cities.
Team New Zealand quietly feel they are well placed for their controversial offshore defence of the Auld Mug.
They’ve just completed a momentous 2022 that included getting the half-scale AC40 class under way with design, production and sailing. That will be used as a test boat and training vessel by the syndicates and also sailed exclusively for the youth and women’s
America’s Cups next year.
The Kiwis have also got their innovative hydrogen-powered foiling chase boat designed and tested, and claimed a wind-powered land speed world record in their radical land yacht Horonuku. They’ve recently shuffled bases on Auckland’s waterfront.
These are the sort of projects that have kept the minds and forces of the team sharp and focussed, with flow-on benefits to Barcelona. ‘‘We are pretty comfortable in our programme . . . where we are going, the sailing that we are doing, the work that we are doing, especially in the design world,’’ Team New Zealand chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge tells the Sunday Star-Times with his syndicate on a quick holiday break ahead of an enormous year.
‘‘We feel like we are on track, but you never know. The team is functioning and running really well, like a well-oiled machine now, and it needs to be . . . 2023 is going to be a big year.’’
Builders from the shore crew
head to Barcelona in January to start work on their base – the conversion of a local ferry building for office and administration, while a temporary structure is being built in Britain and will be transported and erected as their boat shed.
That will be ready for Team NZ’s first relocation to Barcelona in July. They will stay until the end of October, replicating the Cup’s sailing schedule.
‘‘We want to spend a reasonable amount of time there over the same period of the event. We want to get out there on the course area as much as possible. It is different to sailing in Auckland in the harbour where it is pretty protected, and you have multiple options of where you can go. In Barcelona, you are exposed on the ocean, so it is going to be important to get on top of the sea conditions,’’ Shoebridge explained.
Vital work will continue at home, arguably the most important.
‘‘Ever since the AC40s project was signed off, we have been full
speed concentrating on our AC75, that’s our full focus,’’ Shoebridge said of a design team looking to evolve their next generation boat from the 2021 Cup winner Te Rehutai, which appeared to be a significant step ahead of its rivals.
‘‘We have to start building that in the second quarter of ‘23. It is a substantial build with about 75,000 man-hours involved. We are ramping up our boatyard to around 50 employees and will look to have it finished in the first quarter of 2024.’’
The Kiwis are virtually at full strength now. A few shore crew need to be added and trials have been held to complete the sailing team.
Crucially, the core sailors are in place while candidates to fill the power-providing roles of the cyclors – yes, cycling is back in the America’s Cup – have been pushing themselves to exhaustion to be included for a sailing squad that will number about 15. Team New Zealand will also need to start working on their youth and women’s squads this year, with an abundance of talent from a new generation of foiling sailors to tap into.
Also looming in 2023 is confirmation of world series build-up regattas and dates. It seems Italian challenger Luna Rossa is keen to stage one in Cagliari, Sardinia.
As defenders, there are wider responsibilities for Team New Zealand with the event management and getting Barcelona ready for a lengthy regatta that will include the challenger selection series, with the winner of that taking on the Kiwis in The Match, set to start on October 12, 2024.
Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton spent large chunks of 2022 in Spain and Europe setting up the process.
Barcelona is proving an enthusiastic and co-operative host, determined to showcase the city’s reputation for hosting major events. It has world-class infrastructure and a proven track record with the 1992 Olympics and regular Formula One races, as well as football, tennis and golf.
‘‘Considering that arrangement only came together last March, from a standing start we have progressed a long way. There has been a real will and excitement about making it happen in time,’’ Shoebridge said.
Much of what is going on behind the scenes is now being recorded for the first instalments of the fly-on-the-wall documentary series that will reveal the Cup’s inner workings in the same way that Drive To Survive has brought a new dimension to wider interest in the murky ways of Formula One.
Sailing media and fans are already getting a much-improved perception of team performances through the joint reconnaissance programme. This sees independent camera crews following each syndicate to record their daily sailing and testing sessions, negating an expensive cost of each team having spies’ eyes on every rival.
The initial results have been fascinating with teams taking vastly different paths to achieve the same goal of winning sport’s oldest trophy.
‘‘The joint recon program has been great. It has shown the huge amount of work being put in by all the teams, in different ways, coming from different angles,’’ Shoebridge said.
‘‘I know we say it every time, but these teams are all very strong, there’s no question about that.’’
When they converge in Barcelona for the looming European summer, the first public comparisons will be made.
‘‘Yes, ‘23 will be the year that everyone will be on site, moving into their bases and sailing on the course. It’s going to be a really good summer there, kind of feeling it all out, seeing how it is going to look.’’
Looks can always deceive in the America’s Cup game, but there’s no doubt this is a moving year.