KEY POINTS:
Team New Zealand yesterday hit the water for the first time in over 18 months as they gear up for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series beginning in Auckland in two weeks.
The Kiwi syndicate hadn't sailed a single day since the last race of the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia in July 2007, but yesterday got the opportunity to test out the waters, taking NZL 84 and NZL 92 out for sea-trials.
Despite 25- to 30-knot southwesterlies on the Waitemata making conditions rather hairy, Team NZ skipper Dean Barker said it didn't take long for the crew to refamiliarise themselves with the boats.
"It was interesting how quickly we kind of got used to it all again. It was great to get back out there and we had a good sail - it was a lot of fun," said Barker. "But it's going to take all of the next week or so to get back to a level we're sort of comfortable with."
Also out on the water yesterday was Kiwi sailor Russell Coutts, who took the opportunity to test out the black boat - albeit Oracle's - for the first time. The American syndicate have loaned their two boats used for their 2007 America's Cup campaign - USA 87 and USA 98 - for the two-week regatta.
With a number of his competitors for the inaugural regatta having already been training for a number of weeks, Barker said his crew would be playing catch-up over the next week and a half.
America's Cup holders Alinghi and several other teams have been getting in some solid match-racing practice in Valencia over the past two weeks in preparation for the series.
"We've got a bit of catching up to do on the other teams that have been training up in Valencia. They're going to be pretty well-schooled by the time they get down here, so we really need to use the opportunity this week and next week during practice to try and close the gap on where they're probably at," said Barker.
With several syndicates putting in a great deal of training hours in preparation for the event, Barker sees it as a strong indication his rivals are taking the regatta very seriously.
"It always seems to end up being the case, it's who can kind of out-do the other team," he said.
"When we started it was always kind of intended to be more of a low-key event, but it seems to have taken on a lot more momentum as all the teams try to out-train or out-prepare all the other teams."
While Team NZ, who are guaranteed a place in the finals, have limited time to prepare for the Louis Vuitton regatta, Barker said his crew were looking forward to the challenge of getting ready.
Barker expects with a number of issues still to be ticked off, it will be at least another day or so before the team can start focusing on their crew work.
