Team New Zealand's boat speed has again bailed them out after a bad start, closing an early gap to beat Luna Rossa in the final race of the America's Cup World Series - a battle described by TV commentators as "bizarre" - to claim the title. Video / NZ Herald
Team New Zealand have been living on the edge over the past three days, but that is all part of the long-term plan ahead of the America's Cup next March.
Saturday's racing in the America's Cup World Series continued a familiar pattern for Te Rehutai – plenty of pace and power, even if lacking precision and polish at times.
Team New Zealand trailed off both starts yesterday, though they came back well on each occasion, to trump American Magic (1:19) and Luna Rossa (0:16). But they did it the hard way, especially against Luna Rossa, with several mistakes in the admittedly tricky conditions, which Jimmy Spithill described as a "minefield".
But helmsman Peter Burling revealed their boat is currently tuned to the limit – a high specification machine – as they aim to test the extremes of what she is capable of.
Emirates Team New Zealand crew celebrate beating Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in rac 3 on day three of the ACWS America's Cup World Series Christmas Regatta. Photo / Michael Craig.
"We have said all along we are aiming very much at the sixth of March," said Burling. "We have pushed our package quite hard, so it is relatively hard to sail. [But] that is exciting and it is means we have a lot of things to improve on over the next three months."
Burling wasn't thrilled with their starts yesterday – a definite Achilles heel at the moment – as Dean Barker and Spithill gained early ascendancies.
"Definitely didn't have the best ones," said Burling. "We were happy with our strategy in the first one but there was obviously a pretty big right shift so a bit of a tactical error.
"For the second one the breeze dropped a whole heap lighter than we thought so we didn't manage to lay the pin. [But we are learning] what you can and can't do in these boats, we have been trying some more tricky strategies on the starts and we are learning a lot from trying to push it quite hard."
But the 29-year-old is confident about March, despite his potential rivals having more match racing experience.
"I have done a bit now myself, along with a lot of the other guys in the team," said Burling. "We showed in Bermuda that we are pretty quick learners as well. We are looking forward to watching these boats starting, [then] go and review our strategies and try to make some better ones when the Cup comes around."
Emirates Team New Zealand crew celebrate beating Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in rac 3 on day three of the ACWS America's Cup World Series Christmas Regatta. Photo / Michael Craig.
Burling was particularly pleased with the win over Luna Rossa. They made up an 800-metre deficit at one point, springing back to their foils first after both boats had been caught in a lull.
'"We only just got back up foiling and to be able to pull off a foiling gybe on that boundary, and then foil the whole way back through, past where Luna Rossa was sitting in the water shows you how tricky these races are going to be in light airs.
"We feel like Luna Rossa is pretty optimised for the light air, so we are happy to be able to compete with them well in that light stuff and get a good gauge of where they are at.
"We were able to keep the game tight and pick our opportunities to try and pass. In both races we showed the boat is fast enough; we obviously made a fair few mistakes around the track as well but to come through with a win, with that many people cheering us on was pretty special. We are pretty excited about what the summer is going to hold."
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