America's Cup - Emirates Team NZ has first sail in Bermuda + Video

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 22 Apr 2017 Emirates Team New Zealand has just completed for their first sail in Bermuda, in preparation for the racing phase of the 2017 America's Cup campaign.

The team, the last to arrive in Bermuda, returned to their base in the Royal Dockyard around 7.15pm local time (1015am NZT).

'It's a huge day for us', said Emirates Team NZ COO, Kevin Shoebridge. 'It is the first day sailing in Bermuda, which is the accumulation of years of work. To be finally here, at the venue, with our race boat is a very memorable occasion, for sure.'

'We're looking forward to getting out there, just taking it slowly for the first day or so, just to get our feet back under us again, and will start ripping around the Great Sound sometime next week.

'This is the fun part of any campaign. We're only a month away from starting racing for real, so every day is exciting at the moment.'

CEO Grant Dalton praised the efforts of the shore crew who have been working long hours since the arrival of the AC50 by Emirates Sky Cargo 747, the previous week. He revealed that although the main focus had been on disassembly and reassembly of the AC50, the team had also spent about a week installing new componentry into the boat.

'Today's sail was spot on,' he added.

The attendance of multiple spy boats from the rival teams did not phase the New Zealand team. 'We watch them. They watch us. Now we will have a lot more people watching us - and also locals out in their boats having a look on a Saturday evening.'

The New Zealanders found the sea state in the Great Sound to be a lot flatter than they were used to in the Waitemata Harbour and their co-called 'training paddock' to the east of Browns Island.

'The water is dead smooth,' said Dalton. 'It makes the boat a lot easier for the guys to sail and manoeuvre. We could see that even in the very short sail we had today.'

The sail appeared to go well with no sign of major mishap. The team arrived back at their base on newly reclaimed Cross Island, in fading light and with the other teams off the water. The New Zealand team had the pleasure of being accompanied by a fleet of camera-laden spy boats from the other teams, with most getting their first look at the Kiwi team and their cycling grinders.

The six-man crew didn't disappoint the attendant multitude, pulling off two foiling tacks in their first ten minutes of sailing in a 7.5-10kt average windspeed gusting to 15kts.

'It was a fantastic push by the guys to get on the water', said skipper Glenn Ashby. 'Being able to get out and crack off a couple of foiling tacks 10 minutes after commissioning, was just fantastic.

'The boat felt fantastic. Certainly, it is different water here - quite flat - which is nice to sail in. I'm very, very happy from my side,' he added.


More details and images as they come to hand.



Emirates Team New Zealand - First sail in Bermuda of the AC50 - Compilation :