The America’s Cup Team Emirates New Zealand has completed its summer training in Naples and is back in the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand. Whilst the crew were in Italy, their boat, the ‘Taihoro’, was in Auckland undergoing a thorough refit. They now have two weeks to familiarise themselves with the changes
First 40 degrees in southern Italy, now a drysuit in New Zealand. Emirates Team New Zealand has completed its summer training block in Naples on the AC40 and is now back in the cockpit of its foiler, the “Taihoro”. For the team, this is the first practical test of the modifications that have been made.
Every day counts
The time available in Auckland is tight. Before heading back to Naples in September for the next pre-regatta, the team has just two weeks to test the refurbished ‘Taihoro’ on the water. The rules for the 38th America’s Cup stipulate a total of 45 sailing days by mid-January 2027.
Skipper Andy Maloney gave a positive assessment after the first sail. “It’s great to be back on Taihoro,” he said. “It was a really lovely winter’s day, with eight to twelve knots from the south. Perfect conditions for testing all the changes made to the boat whilst it was in the hangar. It’s really cool to see how far the development has come.”
"It’s great to be back on our AC75"
It’s not just the weather that’s different from Naples – the boat is too. After weeks on the smaller AC40, the Crew Back on the AC75 now. “Sailing on the AC40s feels like go-karting. It’s great to be back on our AC75,” says helmsman Chris Draper.
The ‘Taihoro’ has hardly changed in appearance. This is a consequence of the current set of rules. The 38th America’s Cup is characterised more strongly than previous editions by cost control and predictability. For this reason, the teams are not permitted to develop completely new AC75 hulls. They must continue to work with the existing platforms and may only modify them within a precisely defined framework. We have explained in detail what the rules allow and how the roll-out of ‘Taihoro’ went.
At the launch, chief designer Dan Bernasconi clearly outlined where he expects the greatest gain in performance. “The biggest difference in performance will be an earlier lift-off,” he said. He sees weight reduction as the key factor. “We’ve taken a fair bit of weight out of the boat.” In strong winds, the boat is initially slower on paper, according to Bernasconi. However, the team makes up for this with better foils, sails and control systems. Top speed is likely to remain similar or increase slightly, whilst the difference is likely to be greater in light winds. Bernasconi also expects the racing to be much closer this time around between all the America’s Cup teams.
New rules, new crew
The Set of rules has also changed the crew configuration. The athletes who, in previous cups, used their legs to generate hydraulic power for the boat are no longer permitted. A standardised battery system now performs this task. The core crew now consists of five active sailors plus one guest sailor.
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David Ingelfinger
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