Team NZ out to retain lead in Bermuda

Team NZ's early success can be put down to the versatility of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Photo / Brett Phibbs

In anyone's book it has been a tumultuous year off the water for Team New Zealand. On the water? That is fast becoming another story.

Glenn Ashby and his new-look crew have the opportunity to take the lead into next year's America's Cup World Series if they can produce another strong performance in the final leg of the 2015 series in Bermuda this weekend.

The Kiwi team head into the regatta, which will be sailed on the same stretch of water that will stage the 35th America's Cup in 2017, with a seven-point lead in the overall standings after impressive performances in the opening two events in Portsmouth and Gothenburg.

Emirates Team New Zealand are the only team to have finished in the top three in every race of the series, finishing second overall in the weather-disrupted Portsmouth regatta, before topping the podium in Sweden.

Having had limited time together on the new foiling AC45 catamarans before the World Series began, the speed at which the crew has gelled has surprised many - including those within the team. "We've gone into those 45 events with pretty modest expectations," said Team NZ chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge.

"We hadn't really had any time together in the boats and [helmsman] Pete [Burling] had never sailed a foiling 45 before Portsmouth so we are pretty happy with the consistency that they've shown."

A lot of Team NZ's early success can be put down to the versatility of Burling and his crewmate in the Olympic 49er class, Blair Tuke, whose talent has quickly translated to the America's Cup environment. Burling is already looking every bit the match for seasoned sailing veterans Jimmy Spithill (Oracle), Ben Ainslie (BAR) and the man he effectively deposed at the helm of Team NZ, Dean Barker, who now leads the Japanese challenge.

"There's a nice sort of synergy there between the guys like Pete and Blair and the guys with the experience like Ray [Davies] and Glenn. It's working really well, it went well in Portsmouth, it was better again in Sweden," said Shoebridge.

"Some of the teams are better in some conditions, we're better in others, so it's not all one-way traffic. Everyone is learning a lot, it's just going to be about who can learn the quickest, really."

Team NZ's rivals are now focusing a lot of their efforts on studying how the Kiwi syndicate operate on the water - something Ashby considers a strong endorsement for what they have achieved so far.

"I have heard quite a few of the other teams have been reviewing how we have been sailing the boat, particularly in Gothenburg. It's nice that the other teams are looking at us, so we must be doing something right," the Team NZ skipper said.

"Really, we are still in our infancy of what we can achieve as a sailing team, so we are really looking forward to getting back out on to the race track and testing ourselves against the other teams."

Aside from the challenges during the two days of racing for the world series, the importance of time and experience on the waters of the next America's Cup is not lost on Ashby.

"Being able to get out here on the water of the Great Sound is very special and where, hopefully, in a couple of years' time we will have some fantastic success. So it's great to put your toe in the water, so to speak, at this early stage."

The regatta begins tomorrow with a series of practice races before the official racing on Sunday.