| The latest sailing news from New Zealand and the world. |
13 Apr 2017 |
|
| |
  Sail-World NZ - April 12 - Bermuda preview...Zhik joins Volvo...Myers
 | | Emirates Team New Zealand load their America's Cup Class race boat into an Emirates Sky Cargo 747 at Auckland International Airport to fly to Bermuda for the 35th America's Cup Hamish Hooper/Emirates Team NZ |
Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand e-magazine for April 12, 2017
So far we are two days into the third Practice Session of racing in Bermuda, and some interesting trends are beginning to emerge.
Racing in the 35th America's Cup Qualification Round begins on May 26, local time.
First, it must be said that so far the racing has been held in moderate winds of 17-23kts from the NNE on the first day and 12-20kts from the East on the second. So we have not seen the top end 25kts (but maybe got close to it in gusts) and have certainly not seen the bottom end of 6kts.
The racing has closed up on what we saw in the earlier two sessions, with the boats being able to get around the track at what would be considered to be race pace i.e., tacking and gybing in the right place, running a tactical race and with most of the teams to be at the standard, that we saw at the start of the 34th America's Cup match in San Francisco.
The speed of the boats looks to have closed up, with passing not being a factor of outright pace, rather who can remain foiling for the longest period and make the fewest 'flying' errors.
 | | Oracle Team USA against Artemis Racing - Practice Session 3, Day 2 - April 11, 2017 Austin Wong | ACEA |
In other words, a moderate splashdown (5 out of 10) will often be enough to let another boat through if the racing is close, and a full bellyflop (8.5/10) will definitely cause a major loss of distance.
We are seeing some controlled drift downwind, with the boats being rewarded for being able to sail deeper while holding full pace as you would expect.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect is the speed at which the AC50's are tacking upwind - literally spinning on a dime and at the same pace we would expect a 35ft monohulled match racer- or faster.
That means in a close situation that we will see a lot more match racing than we have previously in either the America's Cup World Series and certainly in the last America's Cup.
 | | - Emirates Sky Cargo 747 arrives in Bermuda and unloads Emirates Team NZ's AC50 Hamish Hooper/Emirates Team NZ |
It is very possible to match race these foiling catamarans with the same alacrity as would happen with regular match-race designed monohulls.
The unknown is whether these teams all suffer the same strengths and weaknesses, given they have all been sailing in the same water for so long, and the fact that they are all using arm-grinders instead of leg-grinders. Sometimes they look a little soft in tacks and gybes and take a few seconds to accelerate - which is not really something we have seen in Emirates Team NZ which seem to be able to maintain a more constant velocity through tacks and gybe and don't sink into the water as much as the Bermuda AC50 seem to do.
That could be attributed to a number of factors, but if Emirates Team NZ doesn't have a speed edge, then kiwi fans will need to spend a lot more time in Church over the coming couple of months.
Form boat at this stage looks to be Artemis Racing, which seems to have a clear edge over the others. Oracle Team USA is next, with a gap back to Land Rover BAR, Softbank Team Japan and the improving Groupama Team France.
Emirates Team NZ flew out of New Zealand on Monday morning and arrived in Bermuda on Tuesday afternoon (NZT).
 | | Oracle Team USA - Practice Session 3, Day 2 - April 11, 2017 Austin Wong | ACEA |
The team are on a tight timeline to get on the water, and while some believe that they may be short of a gallop having missed three Practice racing sessions (and maybe a fourth), they would appear to have made a well-timed their run, getting the best of the Auckland summer, and exiting at the right time.
From what we can tell on video, and seen with our own eyes on the Waitemata, ETNZ are ahead of the teams in Bermuda. But the gap has certainly closed. The question is whether the it will continue to close or will the teams sailing at present in Bermuda start to plateau?
The other question is how the teams will perform at the bottom end of the wind-range with their light air foils?
 | | Zhik named official technical clothing partner by team AkzoNobel Thierry Martinez / teamAkzoNobel |
Innovative specialist sailing apparel manufacturer, Zhik has made a big step into the offshore and trans-oceanic sailing world with their announcement as technical clothing partner to the Volvo Ocean Race entry team AkzoNobel.
For Olympic sailors around the world, the only question to the Volvo Ocean Race sailors will be 'why did it take you so long?'
Anyone who has been inside the Zhik factory will know how much effort and analysis goes into the development of their sailing gear. It is an ongoing process for the Australian based company who challenge themselves to improve far harder than any sailor will ever demand.
It is that process of constant innovation and improvement which marks Zhik out from the rest.
Olympic sailors have long known that wearing Zhik makes a difference to their performance - that is why wearing Zhik is a no-brainer. The Olympic sailing teams of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and others all have similar partnerships with Zhik. It is no co-incidence that Zhik sailors from these teams won Olympic medals in nine of the ten events, and won 13 of a total of 30 medals on offer at Rio 2016.
How many other Volvo OR teams will follow the lead of Olympic sailors and team AkzoNobel?
 | | Sir Doug Myers backed Sir Peter Blake's campaigns from 1985 to 2000 Commercial Photographers |
Finally we record the sad passing of Sir Douglas Myers, who despite hardly ever setting foot on a yacht was a major backer of five substantial sailing campaigns organised and led by Sir Peter Blake. In a story in this edition, we reproduce two extracts from Alan Sefton's book on Sir Peter Blake where he records Doug Myers' involvement and the reasons why he became such a strong supporter of Blake and Myers' analysis of what made Blake tick.
Sir Douglas epitomised much of the Kiwi thinking of that era in 1985-2000, which were the glory years of New Zealand big-boat sailing.
The extracts deserve a serious and careful read to all who have a need to understand why things were the way the way they were, and the relationship between those who had the financial wherewithal to back New Zealand sailing projects on the world racing circuits. And also how sailors like Blake who didn't come from a privileged background, were able to work with their financial backers and over-deliver on the investment return - as well as encouraging other New Zealanders to lift their game. These were hard commercial deals that delivered many times on their investment, and Blake usually had his sponsors returning for more.
In today's professional sailing world, the concept of sailing for your country is too often dismissed as a quaint anachronism. As an investor in sailing and in New Zealand, Myers didn't see it that way. And that is why he got out, along with Blake after the 2000 America's Cup defence.
The relationship between Blake and Myers was essentially one of trust and mutual respect that worked for both over a period of 15 years.
Indeed, reflecting on his decision to back Blake's Whitbread maxi, Aland Sefton notes: 'Myers didn't refer the proposal to his board or consult with anyone. He backed his instincts on the spot, and Blake's next Whitbread boat became Lion New Zealand. Interestingly, Myers recalls that decision as ‘the deal with Peter'.'
 | | Steinlager 2 entering the Waitemata Harbour - Whitbread Round the World Race Commercial Photographers |
Follow all the racing and developments in major and local events on www.sail-world.com by scrolling to the top of the site, select New Zealand, and get all the latest news and updates from the sailing world.
Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
sailworldnzl@gmail.com
Please forward news stories and images these directly to Sail-World NZ using our new very easy to use submission system, or forward to the email address: sailworldnzl@gmail.com as text in the email and attach images in the standard way for emails.
To subscribe to Sail-World.com's NZ e-magazine published two or three times weekly go to www.sail-world.com and click on Newsletter and Subscribe. You can see previous newsletters by clicking on Newsletter and then Archive from the drop-down menu.
To check if you have been missing one or more Sail-World newsletters - then check on Archive in the Newsletter section - and if you are missing some, then enter a new gmail.com email address for you.
Or if you are a potential advertiser and want to understand how Sail-World can work for your company, website or product, then drop a line to Colin Preston at nzsales@sail-world.com
If you want to contact Richard Gladwell directly email: sailworldnzl@gmail.com or call (+6421) 301030 or by Skype at sailworldnzl
 | | Oracle Team USA against Softbank Team Japan - Practice Session 3, Day 2 - April 11, 2017 Austin Wong | ACEA |
 | | Le Class AC Groupama Team France aux Bermudes en Avril 6, 2017 © Eloi Stichelbaut |
 | | The twice America's Cup winning sponsor, Steinlager will once again feature on Emirates Team New Zealand. The new Steinlager branding appears on the crossbeam fairing Hamish Hooper/Emirates Team NZ |
 | | Zhik named official technical clothing partner by team AkzoNobel Thierry Martinez / teamAkzoNobel |
 | | NZL-60 winner of the 2000 America's Cup again backed by Steinlager Team New Zealand |
 | | Lion New Zealand in her element |
 | | Day 1 – Les Voiles de St. Barth © Jouany Christophe |
 | | - Emirates Sky Cargo 747 arrives in Bermuda and unloads Emirates Team NZ's AC50 Hamish Hooper/Emirates Team NZ |
|
|
|
|
|
|