America's Cup: "Not all the cards are on the table yet"

Two races have long been underway in preparation for the 35th America's Cup: the one on the water and the verbal battle on land. All teams are fighting to win duels in the ongoing test series and to interpret their results in the comparative races positively and make a strong public impression. Emirates Team New Zealand took part in such a test series for the first time this weekend. The eagerly awaited participation of the co-favourites has shown at least one thing: The Kiwis are well able to stand up to the competition at this stage.

In the duel with the Swedish team Artemis Racing, which had performed so strongly in the test series off Bermuda, New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling and his team came out on top. The performance was described as a "strong statement" not only in the Kiwis' home press. They went on to beat the French Groupama Team France. The pairings had been drawn beforehand. However, Emirates Team New Zealand suffered its first defeat in a duel with New Zealand's disgraced former skipper Dean Barker, who is leading SoftBank Team Japan in the 35th America's Cup.

Following these warm-up laps, the New Zealanders were quick to reassure the public that they were very satisfied with the results of the test of strength. Barker's successor Peter Burling told New Zealand radio station Newstalk ZB: "We made a few little mistakes, but Team Japan sailed very well today. They also beat Jimmy Spithill and the Oracle guys pretty clearly." Spithill, for his part, did not miss the opportunity to comment on New Zealand's defeat to the Japanese: "Dean Barker and SoftBank Team Japan were good to watch as they beat Team New Zealand and Peter Burling by a healthy margin."

Burling drew a positive first interim balance for Emirates Team New Zealand: "It was a good check-in for us to ensure that we are in the game in terms of speed. It looks like that. So we're happy with that. But days like this also highlight the areas where you still need to improve." Like his rivals, Burling assured: "We haven't put all our cards on the table yet. But we believe we are in a good position from which we can continue to work and improve."

Artemis Racing had made the strongest impression in the test series prior to the New Zealanders' run-through. Artemis helmsman Nathan Outteridge, tactician Iain Percy and their team had impressively dominated the last round before the teams met this weekend with a 9-0 win. They had won four times against the American defenders. Afterwards, five-time America's Cup winner, Oracle conductor and event boss Russell Coutts said: "The top team at the moment is Artemis. If we were sailing for the America's Cup today, they would be the favourites."

At the same time, Sir Ben Ainslie's British team Land Rover BAR had not yet made a completely compelling impression. But four-time Olympic champion and helmsman Ainslie was able to comment on this wisely: "Our team can do a lot to improve the boat and its performance. We will also need to do this in view of the previous races, which is the nature of new teams in the America's Cup. It is a challenge, but we are convinced that there is still a lot of potential to be gained between now and the Cup." A further series of tests is planned before the opening races of the qualifying round for the 35th America's Cup.