America’s Cup: Why Team NZ boat Taihoro won’t be at 100 per cent until October

Their new AC75 might be on the water, but Team New Zealand aren’t showing all their cards just yet.

The defender of the America’s Cup ticked off the most significant milestone of their campaign yet with the launch of Taihoro, the vessel on which they will attempt to retain the Auld Mug.

While the veil was lifted on the boat last week, there is still plenty being left to the imagination.

Like most teams’ boats now, the hull shape is out in the public view. However, what’s going on below deck remains largely a mystery to the untrained eye. But even from the outside, not everything will be as it appears come time for racing in Barcelona.

Taihoro has been launched with the team’s last-generation foils, and Team New Zealand port helmsman Nathan Outteridge told the Herald there were a few surprises up their sleeves yet.

“You’ll see features slowly being added to the boat between now and October, but you won’t see this boat at its 100 per cent until October - like the America’s Cup is a design race,” he said.

Outteridge likened the process to that employed by Formula One teams, where they plan upgrades to their cars throughout the season in a bid to make them faster and more competitive as the year progresses.

In the America’s Cup, those upgrades will become a feature through testing periods and preliminary racing right up until proper racing gets under way in Barcelona in late August.

Even during the racing period, teams will take stock and look for areas of improvement, particularly Team New Zealand, who will race in the round-robin of the Challenger Series before meeting the winner in the match for the Auld Mug.

“It’s all about continual improvement. So, we’ll have new foils coming when we get up to Barcelona, and then there’ll be tweaks and modifications to the boat, to the sails, to the foils all the way to the end,” Outteridge said.

“All of those are scheduled now. You can’t just keep planning to add stuff last-minute, you’ve got to plan it months and months in advance.”

Team New Zealand have been commissioning their new AC75 Taihoro in Auckland. Photo / Sam Thom, America's Cup

Since rolling Taihoro out of the shed just over week ago, Team New Zealand have been getting a handle on the vessel on home waters in Auckland.

It’s the first time since last October that they have been sailing on an AC75, following a block of training in Barcelona on their second-generation vessel Te Rehutai.

While they were expecting to be launching their new boat this month, Outteridge said Taihoro arrived ahead of schedule, which has allowed the team to get a few extra days of sailing into their timeline.

“It’s my first experience personally of having a boat touch into the water before its delivery date. Every time an America’s Cup team puts a date on a boat to go in the water, it’s generally later, not earlier,” he said.

“It’s been a pleasant surprise, and so far the commissioning has been going really well. We’ve had no issues with the boat at all, it’s running really well, and what that means is we can get into performance; we can start optimising the boat.”

Four teams have now launched their new AC75s, with Ineos Britannia revealing theirs this weekend. Only American Magic and Orient Express Racing Team are yet to have their vessels brought into public view. However, they are both expected to launch within the next month.

America’s Cup key dates

Barcelona Preliminary Regatta: August 22-25

Louis Vuitton Cup Round-Robins: August 29-September 8

Louis Vuitton Cup Semifinals: September 14-19

Youth America’s Cup: September 17-26

Louis Vuitton Cup Finals: September 26-October 5

Puig Women’s America’s Cup: October 5-13

Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match: October 12-21

America’s Cup challengers

Ineos Britannia (UK - Challenger of Record)

Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland)

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy)

New York Yacht Club American Magic (USA)

Orient Express Racing Team (France)

Youth and Women’s America’s Cup teams

New Zealand, UK, Switzerland, Italy, USA, France, 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.