America’s Cup: Team New Zealand learning on the fly in preparation for Vilanova i la Geltrú preliminary regatta

Team New Zealand sail their AC40 alongside Inoes Britannia in Barcelona. Photo: Supplied / America's Cup

There’s something unique about this America’s Cup cycle.

While the main event is often hailed as a design race and not likely to drop that tag any time soon, the establishment of the AC40 class will see the fleet move away from that notion - albeit momentarily.

While the teams have been allowed to have an AC40 for testing purposes as they look to build the best AC75, they will be in a one-design model when they contest the first two preliminary regattas – the first of which is in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain, in less than a month.

The regatta will also feature fleet races, with all six teams on the starting line, as opposed to the match racing usually associated with the America’s Cup.

Teams got their first glimpse at what that might look like this week as Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa, Ineos Britannia and American Magic went through some short course starts.

While it was a limited opportunity, Team New Zealand coach Ray Davies told the Herald it was a revealing exercise.

“Everyone has the same equipment, but there’s different settings you can have and configurations of how you sail the boat, and there’s significant differences between the boats and difference in performance,” Davies said.

“All of the teams will learn quite quickly what is actually the fastest mode and the more we sail against each other, the more all of the teams will learn and end up very much in the same camp.

“One thing that’s also apparent is you’re racing yourself as much as the opponent in those conditions and just making the least amount of mistakes is absolutely key in any of these high-performance boats these days.”

Since setting up in Barcelona last month, Team New Zealand have been able to sail every day they wanted to, splitting their time between sailing their testing AC75 Te Rehutai – the vessel with which they won the 36th edition of the America’s Cup in Auckland – and their one-design AC40.

Although they went in search of rougher seas when they were sailing in Auckland in preparation for the swells in Barcelona, Davies admitted there was nothing quite like getting to experience the real thing, and the team have been gaining a lot over the last month.

“The feedback from the guys on board is we’re learning a lot. There’s a lot of technique involved in sailing in these waves, and it’s hard to replicate that in New Zealand,” Davies explained.

“It’s always a bit of a myth that these foiling boats would be very difficult to sail in waves, and one thing for our team is we’ve been excited about that challenge and it’s very doable.

“It’s actually way more comfortable on the yacht than it is in the chase boat, that’s for sure. So, the guys are learning a lot. It’s very challenging; you can easily end up popping the rudder out of the water and then you’re into a bit of a nosedive.

“But the more we sail and the more we understand what to do at the peaks and troughs of the waves, the more consistent we will be around the course.”