American Magic and Team New Zealand during a practice race yesterday. Photo / Dean Purcell
American Magic and Team New Zealand during a practice race yesterday. Photo / Dean Purcell
Don't get carried away by results just yet. That was the big message from the first big racing-focussed America's Cup press conference in Auckland.
The combatants say there is a long way to go in the boat and team development, even though preliminary racing starts tomorrow.
The four-day World Series regatta, featuring the three challengers and Team New Zealand, will see the AC75 foiling machines racing for the first time, whetting the appetite for next year's challenger and cup battles.
There was a surprise in practice sailing on Tuesday when American Magic scored a victory over TNZ, but it is very hard to know what significance can be read into results like that.
Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena said: "The development process will keep going until the end of the cup.
American Magic boss Terry Hutchinson said all of the teams had been put on the back foot by the cancellation of two World Series regattas, because of Covid-19.
"How we deal with it is going to be the measure…we have a lot of work to do to get to a place which is competent," he said.
There have been suggestions that the speed and power of the new boats will mean less jockeying in the start box, to avoid potential collision trouble. But Hutchinson indicated that was not a done deal either, and this week's racing would reveal some starting tactics.
"All the way through you will see a fight and the start is part of it," he said.
"We will all be jockeying to pin opponents into the left hand boundary. It will be interesting to see the moves and countermoves."
Hutchinson added: "There is no time…every day we go out, American Magic will treat it as race day. Time is the number one enemy….you must try and learn as fast as you can."
Meanwhile British skipper Sir Ben Ainslie said criticism of his team, which is struggling in light airs, was "water off a duck's back" as they concentrated on what needed to be done.
He expressed full confidence in his team being able to sort out any issues, and also looked forward to racing in higher wind ranges.
"There will be lots more changes to these boats and teams as we go through the next couple of months," said Ainslie.
"A lot goes into these boats - they are incredibly technical. It is a development class and the teams will get better and better."
And TNZ's Peter Burling described this week's racing as a "massive learning opportunity…to work out exact intricacies and countermoves, to figure out the roles and details perfectly."
The practice loss to American Magic had emphasised how influential wind shifts could be.
"If you end up on the wrong side of a shift you can lose a lot of ground," he said, while praising the performance of the American team.
Burling said: "All the teams have their strengths and weaknesses. We're happy with how the boat is going.
"This is incredibly exciting and we can't wait to race (the AC75s) for the first time."
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