Team New Zealand begins moving its boats to Barcelona

when AC40 of New Zealand’s Emirates team Making the most of their time on the water before commencing training and development trials in Auckland Harbour, shore-based crews are working hard in addition to their day-to-day duties. Packing and shipping containers loaded with endless equipment and supplies, chase boats and, of course, Te Rehutai, his Barcelona-bound AC75.

“We have a sense of jugglingNick Burridge, director of reliability and maintenance at Emirates New Zealand, said:

“We have to pack the AC75 and all the associated equipment. Chasing boats, plant containers, all kinds of stuff that goes out the door, as well as a key navigation module while we feed information into the design. Our race boat is trained with both AC40s on the water at the same time.”

It’s a familiar trick for a team that has spent seasons packing its bags and traveling to sea. to compete. Since time is a precious commodity for all teams, minimizing downtime while moving from one location to another is an important consideration in campaign planning.

“We should make the most of any opportunity we get.Whether it’s in logistics, design, shipbuilding or navigation.” Burridge explains: “But we love challengesSo we’re in it and getting the most out of it.”

Te Rehutai and the entire cargo were trucked from the Auckland base They boarded his ship before sailing to Tauranga Harbour, Barcelona.

“We arrived here at night, and now we have three and a half weeks of very quick travel to Europe ahead of us.”said ground crew chief Sean Regan. “The first batch of crew will be heading to Barcelona soon to start unloading Te Rehutai while the team will finish packing the rest of the stuff in New Zealand. We know they’ll need to sail to keep them happy.”

With much of the action heading across the Pacific Ocean to Barcelona, ​​the AC40s’ sailing continues for a while before crew members make their home northward migration next month and prepare to sail in Barcelona in July. , joins the more challenging ones testing the waters at the 37th America’s Cup.