America's Cup Recon: End of a winter test block for the Kiwis - June 15
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 15 Jun 18:41 PDT
Emirates Team New Zealand - Sailing Day 16 - AC38 Recon - June 15, 2026 - Auckland, NZ © Sam Thom / America's Cup
Emirates Team New Zealand wrapped up their winter test block on the Hauraki Gulf on Monday, spending a valuable sailing day testing in light winds.
With a high-pressure cell dominating the Auckland weather for most of the past week, it was no surprise to see light winds and overcast skies, with high cloud over the North Shore, and some sun out with blue skies out in the Gulf.
The Recon Unit reported ind strengths during the day at 7kts or less. The minimum prescribed for the start of America's Cup race is 7kts on a rolling basis.
Emirates Team NZ rigged off Rangitoto Island/North Head, with the usual trip up the mast for a crew member to check the mainsail lock.
The team tried to sail off, but there was clearly insufficient breeze to self-launch. After a few minutes, the tow was set up, and they headed out into the Hauraki Gulf.
A check on PredictWind on the various real-time wind observation points around the Gulf showed they would probably struggle off the East Coast Bays, unless they towed up to start foiling. It was clear that the stronger but still light breeze was off the NE end of Waiheke Island as the northerly breeze flowed into the Firth of Thames. The breeze was very slow to move towards the East Coast Bays, and the Kiwis took the pragmatic approach of heading into the slow-moving cell of viable breeze.
In the end, what would normally have been a five-hour session was only three sailing hours according to the Recon team. However, it was a sustained period of sailing in conditions that were generally below the minimum to start an America's Cup race. They used an older mainsail, and surprisingly, given the conditions, tested with only J2 and J3 jibs. The Defenders spent two hours on the J2 and one hour on the J3.
“It was a good last day to the block," said skipper Nathan Outteridge, after the session. "We've managed to get a really nice range of conditions over the last sort of week and a half, and today we were out chasing light air, and definitely found that, which was really good.”
“Like most days, there's always a job list we're trying to get through, and today went well. We managed to tick everything off and came home, with all the objectives done.”
“We were looking for the bottom end conditions today, so we're back on the M1 (mainsail) and using the larger codes of the jibs, and just kind of sort of seeing the crossovers there. Last time we were out, we were on the M2 (mainsail), and we got some light air on that as well. We’re trying to work out what we're going to build in the future. These days are critical for us to get out there and just get a feel for the range the sails go through, and how the boat performs right in that bottom end.”
“The way we're trying to set it up is that the periods where we're not sailing are when we're creating the lists and on-water objectives.”
“There's obviously a lot that happens in the office, with tool development and things like that. There will be a list of things that they want us to go out on the water and verify. When we started this block, we had a number of things we wanted to do over the last two weeks of sailing, and each day, based on what the weather is like, you try to achieve what you can, and as you go through the block, you're ticking things off, but your list is generally getting longer than it is getting shorter.”
“The next period for us now is a non-sailing period, where we're reviewing a lot of the data. We're starting to get the exciting times where all these lists and things we've been creating are actually turning into new hardware.”
"The new hardware is coming on at the end of this year, when we get back and go through the summer sailing period. Right now it's been a really fun period to get out there, do a lot of sailing, and try and get some answers to the questions that the designers are always asking us."
With SailGP Canada due to take place this weekend, the members of the Kiwi sailing team involved in several SailGP teams will fly out on Tuesday and be away for a week.
Recon Report – 12th June 2026
Sailing Day 16 Statistics
- Emirates Team NZ Crew List:
- Port Helm: Seb Menzies (NZL)
- Starboard Helm: Nathan Outteridge (AUS/NZL)
- Port Trimmers: Iain Jensen (AUS)
- Starboard Trimmer: Andy Maloney (NZL)/Josh Armit (NZL)
- Positions 5 & 6: Jo Aleh (NZL), Josh Armit (NZL)
Wind & Sea Conditions:
- Summary: Light winds with some sun.
- AM Wind: 000°: 3-5kts
- PM Wind: 310°: 3-7kts
- AM Sea State: Flat
- PM Sea State: Flat
- Dock Out: 1058hrs Dock In: 1627hrs Time sailed: 3hrs
Recon Unit Report – 15th June 2026
Key Points:
- Marginal foiling conditions
- Damaged Port Foil
- M1 Main used.
Clear skies and sunshine in Auckland as ETNZ rolled out of the shed at 0917hrs on Monday morning.
Splashing down at 0945hrs and off the dock at 1057hrs. The now-standard crew was on board Outteridge, Menzies, Maloney, Jensen and Aleh.
ETNZ towed down to North Head before hoisting their M1-0 main and J2-2 jib. They towed up onto the foils in a patchy 3-5 kts at 1143hrs. Shortly after, at 1149hrs, ETNZ stopped and inspected the outer tip of their port foil after colliding with a UFO during the tow-out.
After a brief inspection, they decided to continue and were able to sail onto the foil in a slightly stronger 4-6 kts breeze. ETNZ was able to consistently stay on the foils through manoeuvres with only one noticeable touch and go. However, the session ended at 1216hrs when ETNZ fell off the foil in a gybe due to a mistimed raising of the windward board. It is unclear if it is a mechanical or a sailor error. They then stopped for lunch.
The next session started at 1228hrs by towing onto the foils in a lighter 3-4 kts. After a couple of manoeuvres, ETNZ then made their way downwind to Waiheke in a search for a stronger breeze. With only the occasional touch and go, they ended Session 2 at 1317hrs off of Onetangi Bay, Waiheke.
Session 3 began at 1338hrs with towing onto the foils and consisted of several practice races in a steady 4-6hrs knots. The session ended at 1422hrs.
ETNZ then changed to a J3-3 and towed up from Waiheke to the back end of Rakino Island before letting go of the tow at 1451hrs. A slightly stronger 5-8 kts NW breeze had settled in, and ETNZ slowly worked their way back up to Rangitoto Island. It was noticeable in the slightly stronger breeze how bow down ETNZ would come out of the gybes, especially going from starboard to port, and even resulting in the occasional splashdowns. The session ended at 1533hrs for a quick battery swap.
The final session of the day started at 1540hrs with a tow onto the foil. A single prestart followed by a sail home. ETNZ ended their day at 1558hrs, dropping their sails just off North Head.
Overall, a great final day of sailing for this winter block. Making the most of marginal but steady conditions for testing and practice racing.
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