Team New Zealand remain the favourites to win the World Series regatta come Sunday, but that's not the only thing on their mind, reports Michael Burgess.
Team New Zealand have a simple goal over the next two days.
While claiming the Prada Christmas Cup would be nice, the main priorityis cutting out the mistakes that blighted their performances yesterday and continuing to learn and refine.
It was far from polished on Te Rehutai, with a near collision with the windward mark, a splashdown off the foils after a muffed gybe and a misjudged start against Sir Ben Ainslie in their second race, which left them trailing the British boat for almost two legs.
It ultimately didn't matter – as Ineos Team UK are clearly inferior in terms of boat speed – but could be more costly in March.
That may be harsh, but, akin to the All Blacks, those are the high standards that Team New Zealand have set, even given the complicated machines these AC75s are.
Team New Zealand was far from perfect on day two of the World Series regatta.. Photo / Michael Craig
"It was definitely not our most polished performance," said helmsman Peter Burling. "[We] definitely didn't sail as clean as [Thursday] but it was a good learning for us. Good to be out there, trying to run through all the systems and working at 100 per cent."
Burling knows they need to be more effective – and efficient – over the next two days, to give the best possible platform for the Cup.
"[It's about] tidying up all the little things, the bits and pieces that we are making mistakes on," explained Burling. "After this event we can carry on working on speed but it is definitely making sure we are where we want to be in terms of a tactical sense and how we are making decisions around the racetrack."
Team New Zealand claimed convincing victories yesterday (by 1:32 and 1:42), though enjoyed some good duels in the pre-starts, especially in the second race when Burling was outmanoeuvred by Ainslie.
"We learn more when we get a good race," said Burling. "We had a few mistakes but to be able to bounce back in the last one and claw back a pretty good lead, is something that gives us a lot of confidence."
"There will be plenty to learn [over the weekend] as we haven't raced against all the teams in a range of conditions."
The 29-year-old said they are still finding the limits in the new boats, pointing out that they only had about 20 days on the water with Te Rehutai before the America's Cup World Series, and most of that time was spent making sure all the systems were functioning correctly.
Team New Zealand won both races against INEOS Team UK today. Photo /Brett Phibbs
An example of pushing the envelope came in the opening race, when Team New Zealand went precariously close to the first mark, with Burling getting a gentle dressing down from trimmer Glenn Ashby ("Peter listen to me…no lower, no lower, listen to my comms").
"At the top mark I definitely got it a little wrong, made life a little hard," explained Burling, in his understated way.
But so far, so good. Team New Zealand look slick and sleek, and mostly confident in their boat handling.
Burling, who said the team had been "blown away" by the hometown support so far, also welcomed Jimmy Spithill's assertion that the defenders are a "big step ahead" of the rest of the fleet at this stage.
"It's good if they think that," laughed Burling. "I'm sure they have got plenty coming, we've got plenty coming and at the end of the day it matters how quick you are at the end and that is what we are aiming at."
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