America's Cup: Team New Zealand edge closer to getting AC75 on water with arrival of foil arms

Team New Zealand is another step closer to getting an AC75 race boat on the water.

The one-design foil arms components of the foiling monohull arrived from Italy this week, with the crew now expecting to put in long hours as they race to get the vessel on the water.

"Out of the box, on the ground, now we've got a couple of weeks to get them into shape," Team New Zealand boat builder Tim Collen said.

"It is pressure on now; I think it's going to be day shift and night shift. Every stage that we can get done in a day, we'll aim for that."

The arms were one of the one-design components that all teams are required to use in their vessels for the 2021 regatta in Auckland.

While some teams have been working with smaller scale models of the design, Team New Zealand have been working with a simulator to prepare themselves for what they'll experience out on the water when sailing the AC75.

Team New Zealand is hopeful of getting their vessel on the water in early September, allowing enough time to get familiar with sailing it before the first America's Cup World Series regatta in Cagliari, Sardinia in late April 2020.

The four-day regatta will see the Italian Mediterranean island play host to the first ever competitive outing of the revolutionary AC75 foiling monohulls.

"Like all regattas there will be teams that come away satisfied and those that don't," Team New Zealand chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge said.

"The significant thing about this regatta is that it will give a very clear idea of where each of the teams are in their designs and preparations for the main events in 2021.

"However, with only eight months between Sardinia and the start of the Prada Cup and ten months until the America's Cup Match, it gives very little time to make necessary changes for teams to make sure they are up to speed."