Team NZ set for ‘development week’
Team New Zealand are eager to engage in America’s Cup practice racing this week but warn not to read too much into results.
A five-day block of official practice racing starts in Bermuda tomorrow (NZ time) as the clock counts down towards the opening of the round-robin qualifying racing on May 27.
Having only had one day of racing since arriving late at the regatta headquarters, the Kiwis are keen to line out against their five opponents, including cup holders Oracle.
But they are treating it as a ‘‘learning and development’’ week as the need for speed intensifies and new equipment is trialled in race situations.
‘‘We are definitely looking to do quite a bit of racing,’’ Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby confirmed to Fairfax from Bermuda.
‘‘It will be always nice to another boat.
‘‘We haven’t done a lot of racing and we are very much looking forward to it and we’re looking at it very much as a learning and development invaluable. It’s line up against week. So whilst we will be out there doing as much as we can with the racing, we’ll be sifting through a whole lot of different bits and pieces.
‘‘Don’t look at the racing as a real indication of what’s going to be on the cards in two weeks time. It will be a great learning experience but it certainly won’t be a true indication of where everyone is at.’’
The Kiwis have been an everpresent force on the Great Sound in training and want to engage with their opponents with Ashby keen to see his crew operating under pressure.
Much interest this week will centre on whether Oracle will use their new pedal-powered grinding station on the back of their boat.
Oracle boss Sir Russell Coutts confirmed the defenders would follow Team New Zealand into the leg-powered approach though they would still retain their traditional arm-powered grinding stations as well.
‘‘They haven’t changed the grinding system they have, but they are looking to add some grinding capabilities in the back of the cockpit,’’ Coutts told Americascup.com.