Team NZ members speak about the launch of their 2024 America's Cup boat the Taihoro. Video / Alyse Wright
Orient Express Racing Team were the last America’s Cup syndicate to get on the water in an AC75 this campaign, but Kiwi sailor Jason Saunders says that won’t necessarily hold them back.
Coming into 2024, the French were the only competing syndicate to have not sailed an AC75. While Alinghi Red Bull Racing are also newcomers in this campaign, they purchased Team New Zealand’s first iteration and used that to get a grip on sailing at 75-foot foiling monohull before launching into their own design and build.
They got their first taste of AC75 sailing earlier this month, and while the impression might be that the French are playing catch-up, Saunders, who operates as a flight controller and trimmer onboard, said things were tracking as planned for the team.
“We would like to have sailed earlier, but this is what we planned for,” he told the Herald.
“We’re not really too worried. We’ve still got a bit of time to catch up, we’ve got a good package, we’re happy with the boat, so we’ve just got to learn how to sail it as best as we can.
“If we go through and sail to its potential, I think we should be in pretty good shape.”
It was a similar case when they only got their AC40 a couple of weeks before having to race it in the first preliminary regatta in Vilanova i la Geltru last year. They won the first race of that series – the first proper race between the six syndicates of the Cup cycle – and finished third in the regatta, but were last in the second preliminary regatta in Jeddah later in the year.
Now, with the final preliminary regatta approaching in Barcelona in August, the team are turning their attention to learning the ins and outs of AC75 sailing, making their debut flight in their race boat earlier this month.
“In terms of the actual feeling on the boat, once it’s ripping, it actually feels safer and a little bit easier in some ways to sail than the 40,” Saunders said.
Orient Express Racing Team have been sailing their AC75 over the past couple of weeks. Photo / Alexander Champy-McLean, Orient Express Racing Team
“It’s a little bit more steady, certainly heavier, bigger boats, so we’ve got quite a lot of control as well so it feels quite safe. We’ll be pushing harder and harder as we get going.”
As a way of playing catch-up, the French opted to purchase a design package from Team New Zealand. Though it was built in France as per the class rule, it’s a very similar vessel to that which Team New Zealand built for themselves.
It gave the French confidence they would be getting a fast package, however not being the ones to design it meant they needed to get up to speed on how to best sail it.
“It’s very similar, obviously; a lot of the same components and the same design,” Saunders said of the likeness between the two boats. “So, that gives us a lot of confidence as well. It means that we can focus on the sailing side of things rather than trying to develop the boat too much, which is not in our plans so much.
“We’re very happy with what the team has produced. There’s so much to do just to get the potential out of the boat; it’s one thing to have a good boat, but the other thing is to learn how to sail it considering that you haven’t made the design so you don’t know exactly all the targets and everything, but we’ll get there.”
With less than three months to go before the teams are racing their AC75s in the final preliminary regatta, it’s a busy time on the water in Barcelona.
The five challengers have been getting their work in at the Cup venue over the past couple of weeks, with Team New Zealand set to join them after their AC75 Taihoro arrived in Spain over the weekend.
“It’s a busy period now on the harbour. There’s not much space out there and everyone’s sort of crossing tacks with each other, so you sort of get little snippets now and then of who you think is going well in certain conditions or you see someone do a bit of an upwind together and, you know, it’s quite exciting,” Saunders said.
“It’s definitely motivating for the rest of the team just to see everyone pushing hard and for us to be a part of that now rather than just watching from the outside, it’s certainly super motivating and we’re pretty, pretty excited.”
