Team NZ crew get on their bikes to provide power. Photo / AP
Team NZ crew get on their bikes to provide power. Photo / AP
Just as the type of craft sailed in the America's Cup has been radically transformed over the past two cycles, so, too, have the crews.
The move to high-tech, foiling catamarans has demanded stronger, more agile crew to handle and power them.
It takes a serious amount of grunt work from the sailors to get these high-tech 50ft catamarans hurtling around the Great Sound in Bermuda.
Over the course of a 20-25 minute race, the four grinders - or in Emirates Team New Zealand's case, cyclists - are required to produce sustainable power, along with intermittent bursts of maximum effort.
"It's excruciatingly tough. The guys are in the red for pretty much the whole race, which means they basically can't push any harder," says Team NZ trainer Hubert Woroniecki.
"It's a really tough slog for them, particularly on days when they have to back it up two, sometimes even three times in a day."
Given the demands required of the crew, it's little wonder teams have looked to recruit from other sports to boost their power profile on board.
No longer is the America's Cup the domain of the world's best sailors, it's also the domain of some of the world's best rowers, cyclists, kayakers and swimmers.
Team New Zealand have two code-hopping sailors in their ranks - Olympic rowing champion Joe Sullivan, and former sprint cyclist Simon van Velthooven, also a medallist at the 2012 London Games.
Then there's Artemis grinder Anders Gustafsson - a highly decorated sprint kayaker and four-time Olympian for Sweden. And Oracle's Ky Hurst, who made his name in swimming and surf lifesaving.
"[The grinder's] role is predominantly to provide power, so as long as you have the physiology and your body is adaptable to be able to create as much power as possible, then you can make the switch," Woroniecki said.
When Sullivan was lured out of sporting retirement to join Team NZ, he did so thinking he would be turning handles on the Kiwi boat. But the team's designers had other ideas, implementing a radical cycle-grinding system to provide the all-important hydraulic pressure to power the functions in the boat.
The change in tack didn't faze Sullivan, however, who can find plenty of similarities between rowing and his job aboard Team NZ.
"Rowing is 70 per cent legs, so I'm used to that power. And we did a lot of cycling in our rowing training," he said. "Racing in a double scull was six minutes of absolute hell - it destroys you - and there are definitely times sailing these boats when you're pushing just as hard. Then you settle.
"It's more about choosing the right time to go; being aware when you need the power, and giving it everything you've got."
Joe Sullivan and Simon van Velthooven (left) put the pedal to the metal. Photos / File
The shift to cycling also meant a radical overhaul of the team's strength and conditioning programme, which Woroniecki was in charge of developing.
While the likes of Sullivan and van Velthooven, who was recruited once the decision to plump for pedal power was locked in, predictably produced impressive numbers on the watt bikes, Woroniecki said it wasn't long before those members of the crew from traditional sailing backgrounds were keeping up.
Andy Maloney, who narrowly missed out on the Laser spot for New Zealand at last year's Olympics, and Finn specialist Josh Junior are now strong cyclists in their own right, said Woroniecki.
"With Andy, especially, he was doing a lot of cycling previously as part of his training, so he was one of the stronger guys from the start. With Josh, I would say it was more his attitude and his professionalism in the way he took on the task at hand that really helped him improve and in the end he ended up excelling," he said.
But their training hasn't just been about pushing the pedals as hard as they can, for as long as they can. Woroniecki said it was not just about the bike.
"Anyone can jump on the bike and cycle, but it was more about creating the habits of clipping and cycling and just repeating that so they can transfer on to this large, fast-moving vessel," he said, gesturing to Team NZ's race boat as it is hoisted out of the water at their team base in Bermuda's Royal Naval Dockyard.
"It was very difficult to simulate the actual movement of the vessel. We did a lot of training where they would be doing intervals or cycle work and then at a certain interval they would have to clip-out, run as fast as they could over an object and back to the bike and continue the effort. We did that over and over again so they just developed the habit of clipping out and clipping in and avoiding any time wastage in that.
"At this level, you can't really be thinking about these things, they have to be certain aspects."
For what it's worth, Woroniecki believes the design team made the right call in pushing for the pedals.
"It's been proven many times over that legs can produce much more power than the arms, and because they are bigger muscle groups, there's more blood supply, which means faster recovery in between efforts, and on top of that the hip joints are so stable, there's much less risk of injury and they are able to back it up on a more regular basis.
"I think where the system comes into its own is when they are having to repeat many manoeuvres and the boat gets thirsty for power, these guys will have no problem being able to supply that power."
Dana Johannsen travelled to Bermuda thanks to Emirates Airline.
