KEY POINTS:
The temperature is sweltering, there isn't a single cloud in the sky.
Emirates Team New Zealand's black boats are thundering across the Mediterranean in a sea breeze when all of a sudden one latches on to an unexpected wind shift and edges ahead.
Team New Zealand's wind spotter, Adam Beashel, said at first he was mystified by such shifts.
To a certain degree he still is, but he has accepted they are part and parcel of racing in Valencia.
"When you get a sea breeze it looks similar all over yet, it is very shifty," he said.
"You think you are sailing along hazy, dazy and next minute the other guy is in two knots more pressure and a shift. There is not a cloud in the sky and the breeze on the water hasn't changed. You are looking, scratching your head wondering 'what the hell made that happen'?"
As for the effect such shifts will have on the racing, Beashel said there would be plenty of tacking duels.
"Even if you are thinking 'it looks good here, we are happy to minimise the amount of tacks we do', you know there could be something random coming along, so it makes you cover the other team more tightly."
Valencia, on Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast, is expected to offer conditions that will challenge the most seasoned of yachties when the America's Cup regatta starts next month.
Valencia was chosen for its stable and reliable weather, but the conditions are trickier than in Auckland because the breeze is more random. However, it is easier in that the wind bracket is a lot more defined.
"In Valencia the wind speed usually fits in a small bracket, for example seven-10 knots, but is more shifty," Beashel said.
"In Auckland a lot of the time if you tried to minimise the wind range between seven-12 knots - it was more like you were going to see five-15 knots."
The breeze in Valencia is predominantly a sea breeze or onshore breeze which means it blows from the water to the land.
In Auckland the breeze was more offshore which meant it blew from the land to the sea.
The surroundings are also different.
In Auckland small islands encompassed the course while in Valencia giant mountains stand tall in the background.
Beashel said there were mountains to the north west and to the south but neither had a major impact on the two race courses. He said what could have an effect was a decent south-east sea breeze which sometimes resulted in the south course recording up to six knots more breeze than the north course.
While Auckland's cloudy skies helped strategists determine what the wind was doing - building clouds indicate that the breeze is about to strengthen - in Valencia the clear blue skies offer little assistance.
Up the mast Beashel can analyse the conditions further up the race course. He is looking at the way the wind hits the water and the different ripples that form.
"With experience you can tell where there is more pressure and where there is less. The glassier it gets usually the softer the wind is. The darker the water looks, it usually means that the waves are standing up more, so there is more wind there.
"It gets tricky around midday when the sun is above you because it dulls all that and doesn't make it as obvious. It is more obvious early in the morning and late in the afternoon."
Beashel also looks at other boats on the water and how the wind is affecting them.
If a rare offshore breeze did occur, Beashel said, the locals' love of fireworks could be handy.
"This time of year there are lots of fireworks going on at 2pm so you get smoke coming straight up and out of the city ... it is like a hot-air balloon going off ... so you can make use of that."
Adam Beashel
Born: Sydney November 5, 1968
Position: Strategist/traveller - helps call the wind pressure, assists with tactics, adjusts the main traveller.
Cup history
2007: Team New Zealand
2003: Team New Zealand
1995: One Australia
Other: Beashel is an accomplished dinghy sailor, winning major international regattas in the 49er, Laser, and 420. He has competed in numerous keelboat regattas winning the Kenwood Cup, the Transpac and Farr 40 world championships. His father Ken is a two-time world 18ft skiff champion and brother Colin an Olympic Star Class bronze medallist.
The wind in Valencia
* From April through until the middle of May teams could experience anything from seven-20 knots. From late May onwards it is likely to decrease to seven-13 knots.
* The wind predominantly blows from the east. Mostly south-east but sometimes north-east.
* It kicks in around around noon-1pm. It builds until about 4pm and then usually tapers off.
* There are two race courses - a north one and a south one. On some days last year there was up to six knots more breeze on the south course than the north course.
* The heat of the thermal breeze in Valencia creates a softer flow than is usually experienced in New Zealand.
* This is the the first cup where the teams receive information from the same weather buoys, which has allowed them to adapt to the venue quicker.
