‘Team New Zealand”s AC40 dominates regattas in training fleet in Barcelona.

Barcelona, ​​Sep 2 (EFE).- New Zealand’s AC40 ‘Te Kakahi’ (La Orca) of the Emirates team is the protagonist of the second day of fleet racing planned by the race director of the 37th America’s Cup Barcelona 2024. And won three of the four rounds contested.

On the first day they already won two out of three places, losing one to ‘Luna Rosa’. Second ‘Alingi’ surpassed them.

Team New Zealand, Alinky Red Bull Racing, INEOS Britannia, Luna Rosa Prada Pirelli and Orient Express Team France competed in the four race sessions, with five AC40, 11.90 meter long monohulls with foils (hydrofoils). 16 knots (14 to 30 km/h) and light swells on the Barcelona race course.

Orient Express Racing Team France coach Frenchman Thierry Touillard said they had an “unbelievable week”. “The boat is undamaged, in one piece and the boys are competing well against the best sailors in the world and we are happy to compete,” he highlighted.

“The team was excellent this week,” noted Swiss Maxime Bachelin, co-principal of Aling Red Bull Racing. “We are very happy to compete again because we have been waiting for more than a year to fight against others and we have good feelings. We feel strong,” he added.

Emirates Team New Zealand performance engineer Elise Beavis said: “Two days of joint racing with five AC40s was incredible. Putting different things into practice and trying different things in a fleet race is something we haven’t had in a long, long time”.

When asked what the team’s weakness was at the moment, Elise replied: “Because there was very little training in the fleet race, it was something we couldn’t emulate in our own training, so what we’re really trying to do is make sure we can do it in a few days.”

Frenchman Philippe Presti, coach of the Luna Rosa Prada Pirelli, said: “It was a goal for us to sail against all the boats, so we worked on our pre-start routine, our software and I am satisfied to finish in three seconds” .

Of the New Zealand team’s navigation, he highlighted: “They dominate the starting lines better than anyone else, and if they have a free lane in front of them they increase their advantage quickly. Having an advantage at the start makes the difference.”

The only team not competing this week was NYYC American Magic, who chose to test a boat, their AC40 trainer ‘America’, to calibrate two mainsails of different sizes. EFE

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