COMMENT: By Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz
Over the past fortnight, a low-flying blue missile has become a familiar sight on the Waitemata Harbour.
American Magic's dark blue-hulled AC75, Defiant, has been putting in the hours on the water, trying to claw back some of the five months lost in the two Covid-19 ravaged America's Cup World Series regattas.
A typical day for the team representing New York Yacht Club consists of four to five hours on the water. Fortunately, Auckland's winter has been milder than expected, and without too many days lost through strong winds.
Back in March American Magic's Executive Director Terry Hutchison took the gamble to send their AC75 and 32 containers of gear to Auckland, not knowing if the team members would be allowed to cross the closed New Zealand border.
"It's hard to say as we are literally getting our feet wet again," Hutchinson replied, when asked for his take on the past fortnight's sailing. "However, it is great to be back out on the water, and it has been a solid team effort to meet the milestones that we put in front of us with this move.
"The AC 75 is an incredible piece of equipment, and it's really good to be in the Cup venue, starting the process of learning again. As professional sailors, that is our job, and we are doing what we are meant to do."
Defiant is a scow style AC75, with a shallow rounded hull and chesty bow - similar in design concept to the British challenger INEOS Team UK.
Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli are from the skiff genre characterised by a more V-shaped hull, sharp wave-piercing bow and centreline bustle.
The combination of the royal-blue hull colour and very rounded and rolled hull sections, visually take some adjustment for those more familiar with the lines of the harder-edged Te Aihe.
By now, looking at the Kiwi and US boats, despite them being of vastly different design concepts, one would have expected to be able to say definitively which is superior in which conditions. But that is not the case. And for two boats, to the same design rule, which are different in almost every regard, the performances surprisingly seem very similar.
Peter Burling and his crew should have a slick edge over Dean Barker and the Defiant team. But that must be expected from a Kiwi crew that has sailed solidly for the past five months, albeit in their test boat, compared to one who has been shore-bound for the same period.
This week, ETNZ's test boat, Te Kāhu, has stayed in the boatshed. Next week we expect to see the Kiwis switch to their AC75, Te Aihe, and more direct comparisons with Defiant can be made.
The decision, earlier this week, from the Arbitration Panel appears to have put paid to the America's Cup hopes of the second challenger from the USA. Stars + Stripes Team USA was the brainchild of two world match racing champions, intending to set up a US team in the mould of Team New Zealand.
The US team sought an interpretation on the extent of a rule requiring the hull of an AC75 to be constructed in the country of the club represented by the team.
That hypothetical question, as to whether it applied to all America's Cup events, or just the Match itself, got twisted by some Cup commentators into Stars + Stripes Team USA wanting to sail Team NZ's first AC75 Te Aihe in the America's Cup. That is clearly illegal under Cup rules.
The Arbitration Panel's decision went counter to the opinions of three New York legal firms provided to the California-based team.
The Arb Panel's decision bid farewell to the last of the three Late Challengers, leaving just the three Super Teams on the Challengers' side of the ladder.
Ultimately the reduction weakens the Challenger series as now the winner of the first round robin phase goes straight to the final, leaving the other two challengers to fight out a repechage to determine the second finalist. The winner of the Challenger repechage will be the one who gets the most racing ahead of the 36th Match.
A fourth Challenger would have evened up the ladder - allowing a full four-boat semifinal, with the top two teams progressing to the Prada Cup final.
Team New Zealand has never lacked for lateral thinking ability, and it remains to be seen how the defender plans on getting match fit. Under the Protocol, the Kiwis can start two-boat racing for seven weeks, from the start of the Challenger Selection Series on January 15, until the beginning of the America's Cup Match on March 6, 2020.
The voice of the America's Cup, Peter "PJ" Montgomery, will be one of two inductees into the America's Cup Hall of Fame, in March 2021.
As part of an amazing 50-year broadcasting career, PJ has commentated live every America's Cup race in which New Zealand has competed. That epoch began on October 5, 1986, off Fremantle, when KZ-7 competed against Heart of America - getting off to a winning start with a 6min 29sec margin.
Montgomery's commentary in that series gave New Zealand its first dose of America's Cup fever, from which it has never recovered.
His live commentary of all three America's Cup wins, by New Zealand crews, were notable for victory catchphrases that instantly became part of the Kiwi lexicon.
Founded in 1992, the Hall of Fame has 90 inductees - mostly sailors, team principals, designers and the like. Only two other chroniclers, both noted US photographers, have previously been inducted, and Montgomery's is a rare honour and testament to his standing amongst the international America's Cup community.
He will be joined by Ed Baird (USA) who also has strong New Zealand connections. Baird was the helmsman of Alinghi in the 2007 America's Cup, and coach of Team New Zealand for their first Cup win in 1995 with NZL-32.
He was an outstanding co-commentator with PJ Montgomery in the 2003 America's Cup for TVNZ and OLN.
Covid-19 willing, the formal induction ceremony is expected to be held in Auckland during the 2021 America's Cup.
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