Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking, Team NZ chief executive Grant Dalton said it could be interesting to see how they go should the wind stay toward the upper end of the range, but their plans have some way to go yet.
“It’ll be interesting when we sail them tomorrow because we’re not really set up for high winds at the moment,” Dalton said.
“You’ve got to put your boat somewhere, and the other thing we always have to keep reminding ourselves, and this is a lesson of San Francisco, they don’t count our points until October.
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“We have a lot of stuff in the pipeline coming which will only make us faster and it’s not on stream at the moment.”
As for the challengers, Dalton said he believed they would be at, or very close to, full strength, with any upgrade they had in store likely to be made already ahead of their lone hit-out before races that count for them.
Coming into this week’s preliminary regatta, Inoes Britannia helmsman Sir Ben Ainslie told the Herald that Team NZ and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli looked like the sharpest outfits. Dalton echoed Ainslie’s thought about the Italians, noting that at this early point they were standing out from the pack.
What will be key over the coming week for the challengers is refining the playbook and maximising the performance of the boat through sailing and techniques, with no team yet to truly get an idea of where they sit despite some practice racing over the past couple of days.
“Three weeks from now, one’s going home. So, they’ve got nothing other than techniques and the way they sail; they’ve got nothing left in the tank.
“Maybe that tank is good enough to beat us, but we’ve got a lot coming. You’ve got to have some advantage as a defender and that’s one of them, that we’re later on. That’s something we didn’t do right in San Francisco. We got right in Auckland, we got right in Bermuda and hopefully we’ll get it right here.”
America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta
Barcelona, August 23-26. Racing begins at midnight (NZ time) each day.
America’s Cup key dates
Louis Vuitton Cup round-robin: August 30-September 9
Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals: September 15-20
Youth America’s Cup: September 18-27
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Louis Vuitton Cup finals: September 27-October 6
Puig Women’s America’s Cup: October 6-14
Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup match: October 13-22
America’s Cup challengers
Ineos Britannia (UK – Challenger of Record)
Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland)
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy)
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New York Yacht Club American Magic (USA)
Orient Express Racing Team (France)
Youth and Women’s America’s Cup teams
America’s Cup teams: New Zealand, UK, Switzerland, Italy, USA, France
Invited teams: Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
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Publish date : 2024-08-24 10:30:00
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