America's Cup: Last-minute prep for locals and tourists

Both the teams and Bermuda are carrying out their final preparations. Photo / Supplied

There's an unmistakable bustle about the America's Cup village in Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard, as organisers and contractors put in a frantic final push to be ready for opening day.

In every corner of the venue, which sits on the western tip of the island wrapping around the Great Sound, last minute finishing touches are being made.

A local band runs through their sound check on the main stage, only to be drowned out by the squeal of a circular saw in the nearby hospitality area, where frustrated builders are trying to piece together prefabricated joinery.

In amongst the noise food and drink vendors scurry around setting up their tents in preparation for the estimated 10,000 visitors that will turn out on the opening day of the America's Cup Qualifiers this weekend.

Hovering above the mayhem, helicopters circle the racecourse as the multi-million dollar broadcast arm of the America's Cup Events Authority makes sure it's systems are all in check for race day.

The frenetic last minute rush seen in the public spaces of the America's Cup village is being replicated behind the wire fences of the team compounds.

The compressed timeframe the teams have been operating under in this cup cycle, and the incredible pace of development of the new 50-ft foiling catamarans, has seen the six syndicates take their development programme right down to the wire. None more so than Emirates Team New Zealand.

After being off the water for virtually all of last week due to a rudder blow-out and a collision on successive days, the Kiwi syndicate were still testing new hardware in today's final proper training hit-out ahead of Saturday's racing.

The team have a scheduled maintenance day tomorrow, a public holiday in Bermuda, while media and broadcast commitments on Friday will foil attempts for any meaningful time on the water on the eve on the regatta.

Kevin Shoebridge, Team NZ's chief operating officer, said since getting back on the water over the past three days, the team have been able to tick off a number of key priorities.

"We've been heavily into the development phase right up until now. But now we have to focus purely on the racing," said Shoebridge.

"[The last minute tinkering] is not by choice, this is happening later than we want it to happen. Because we got on the water late we've been scrambling a little bit over the last year really, so we have been forced into this position. But in saying that, it would be nice to have a little bit longer for preparation, but we feel as though we're in a good space and we've got to where we want to be."

Shoebridge said the biggest gap in Team NZ's preparation is their lack of proper racing experience. With defender Oracle Team USA and Softbank Team Japan refusing to engage with the Kiwis, who have been cast as the lone wolves of the 35th America's Cup, Team NZ have had to make do on a limited diet of practice racing with most of their match-ups coming against two of the lesser-fancied teams in Ben Ainslie Racing and French syndicate Groupama.

"That's the big learning curve for us at the moment is getting out on the water and actually racing the opposition and trying to figure out the course. We're starting to see improvement and gains there and we will hopefully continue to do so," said Shoebridge.

Over the next few days the Team NZ brains trust will "lock down" the race settings on the Kiwi boat, in an effort to ensure it is reliable come race day.

But like frenzied efforts of the cup organisers, Team NZ's haste may prove unnecessary. The forecasts for Saturday's opening day of racing predict fresh conditions at the upper range of the wind limit, raising the possibility the event may get off to a false start.