Team NZ to spark with in-house battle

Outteridge becoming a big fan of the dual helming system: ‘It is amazing’

Team New Zealand’s preparation to defend the America’s Cup again has brought with it an unfamiliar battle.

For the regatta in Barcelona next year, every team have embraced the dual helming setup that worked well for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in Auckland for the last edition of the Cup.

The Italians had Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni sharing driving duties, with the one not on the helm working as the flight controller, which decreased the number of sailors needing to scurry from one side of the boat to the other for manoeuvres.

It was a tactic that helped the Italian syndicate win the challenger series.

In Barcelona, Team New Zealand will have Peter Burling sharing the helm with new recruit Nathan Outteridge.

The new configuration essentially divides the team into two teams — with one driver and trimmer combination operating on port tack and the other on starboard — and with so many data points used to assess performance.

Since joining Team New Zealand in early 2022, Outteridge has been working hard to learn the intricacies of an AC75 and how they operate after being part of the commentary team for the last edition of the Cup. He said the decision to run a dual helming system has brought a competitive element into training.

“Computer modelling can predict how fast the boat should go pretty easily, so you’ll always have your target VMG [velocity made good] and you can get a percentage read out on how you’re comparing to the predicted numbers. Then on port tack and starboard tack, you can compare those two numbers pretty easily,” Outteridge explained.

“We can do it live on the water — how fast you’re making the boat go upwind or downwind — and then all the data gets logged. At the end of every day you get a report. It’s always the port team versus the starboard team, saying something like on average the port team were sailing three per cent faster than the starboard team today, and then you dive into the data and the details to try and work out how to do that.

“It’s a little healthy in-house competition and how we make sure we make the boat go faster and faster at all times.”

As they do with VMG — the speed of the boat towards the direction of the wind — the team can compare the performance numbers of manoeuvres on either side of the boat. The main considerations are the time it takes to make a turn, and how much time or distance is lost.

“That really is a combined effort from the team . . . but if you’ve got the wheel on port tack and the port numbers are not good, you must lift your game to match the other person.”

Outteridge has immersed himself in learning as much as he can about the AC75 and how to sail the class having not been part of an America’s Cup campaign since 2017 in Bermuda where he was skipper with Artemis.

Ironically it was Team New Zealand — with Burling at the helm — who knocked Artemis out in the challenger series final that year and went on to beat Oracle Team USA in the Cup match.

“I think the dual helming is amazing and I’m surprised it’s taken so long to get to this point,” Outteridge said. “What’s really been interesting is every time we’re starboard tack Pete’s driving and chasing the performance numbers, and when we’re on port tack I’m doing the same so you get a very good comparison between what you’re doing and what the expert’s doing.

“We’re sort of at a point now where performance is very even tack for tack, and each time we try a few things, one person can try to make an adjustment — which is hopefully an improvement — and you can notice that then the other person can adjust to that.”