Emirates Team New Zealand will be back on the water on their AC75 Taihoro over the coming weeks. Photo / Dean Purcell
In past America’s Cup cycles, the unveiling of a new hull has been met by intrigue and excitement.
For the 38th edition, those feelings have shifted focus to exactly how the team is going to operate on board with hulls being reused.
Emirates Team New Zealand will be the first team to give an indication of how the new-look combinations might operate in Naples in 2027 after revealing their reimagined AC75 Taihoro in Auckland this afternoon.
The Kiwis, who sailed Taihoro to a comprehensive victory in Barcelona in 2024, were the first to unveil their updated hull and will put it through its paces on the Hauraki Gulf in the coming weeks. While the boat didn’t leave the shed on Monday, it is expected to be back out on the water as soon as conditions allow.
“How all the teams line up, I think they’re going to look pretty similar at the end of the day,” Team NZ skipper Nathan Outteridge told the Herald.
“It’ll be interesting to see how it evolves, but I feel like they’ll all land in a similar spot. To be honest, I’m probably more interested to see what their foils are going to look like. The foils, from the outside, all looked relatively similar across the fleets, but when you’re involved in the design meetings, you can see, you know, subtle and significant differences.
“Effectively, if you can’t change the hull, it’s all about foils, it’s all about how you control the sails and it’s all about your sail systems and how you generate that thrust. We’re really looking forward to putting our best foot forward in those areas and, once we hit the water this week, that’s when the development really begins.”
While teams have been allowed to sail AC75s since mid-January, none of the five confirmed entries has taken the opportunity yet with all sailing in the campaign so far being done on the scaled-down AC40s.
The next few weeks will be the first opportunity to sail an AC75 for some of the Team New Zealand sailing group, with Chris Draper, Jo Aleh, Seb Menzies, Jake Pye and Josh Armit all new to the main stage this season.
“Right now, it’s about trying to get everyone’s individual skills up as high as we can. Over the next few months, it’s about getting everyone on the water, trying to find out where are they, where are their strong points, where do they need improvement and development,” Outteridge said.
“That goes for myself as well. We haven’t sailed a 75 for almost two years now. So over the next, I guess, month or two while we’re here in New Zealand and the weather’s still nice, we’ll be getting out there, rotating the crew around a bit, trying to work out who’s going to end up in what seat at the end of the day.”
As defined by the protocol for the cycle, teams that sailed in the Barcelona regatta had to reuse their hulls rather than build a new one.
That meant the design team was limited to specific modification categories in refitting Taihoro, including the reconfiguration of the cockpits and some minor structural rebuilds, with the biggest growth areas in the campaign expected to be found in other elements.
Dan Bernasconi, Team NZ head of design, said the rules still allow for some significant technological developments and improvements in the AC75s.
“The hulls have always been one of the most noticeable features on an America’s Cup yacht, but because the hulls spend so much time out of the water, there is actually not that much difference in the performance of hulls.
“The class rule and design parameters still allow for important gains and difference in performance from the foils, sails and control systems, for example. As with every iteration of the same class of boat, there is no doubt the racing will be a lot closer this time around between all teams. So, as always, winning will be a massive challenge for the whole team.”
Over the next few weeks, Taihoro will be a regular fixture on the Hauraki Gulf as the crew acclimates to the new dynamics, before turning their focus to AC40 racing and the first preliminary regatta in Cagliari, Sardinia from May 21-24.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.