America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ get into race and development routines
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 29 Jan 01:30 PST
Emirates Team New Zealand - solo testing - AC40 - Auckland - January 29, 2026 © Richard Gladwell - Sail-World.com/nz
Emirates Team New Zealand sailed again, today, Thursday with a training session involving just one AC40 in the Rangitoto Channel.
There was no breeze for most of the day, with the light winds giving way mid-afternoon to an offshore breeze which built from a fluffy 5kts just before 1500hrs to 15kts just over an hour later and hit a peak gust for the day of 24kts around 1700hrs.
The Kiwi team appeared to be training new members of the sailing squad, with three marks set to complement the other channel and racing marks in the area.
Generally they performed well, with only the occasional splashdown, their pace looked good, but the manoevres looked a little cautious, in the part of the session we observed. Maybe they upped the ante later in the session.
Given that the Kiwi forecasting is almost always spot on, they may have always intended to put out just one boat late in the day. However they have now sailed three successive days - which is a little unusual - even in the AC40s.
The frequency of the training is a reflection of the time lost in January with SailGP in Fremantle, and then last week being lost with unsailable weather in Auckland. It is also a way of getting the team into the routine of race practice and development mode, which will carry on into the AC75 development program, when that boat comes out of the shed.
Lighter southerly winds are forecast for Friday.
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