Despite the milestone ahead of us, what is happening now and what has already happened is what will likely define the success or failure of Emirates Team New Zealand, as Kevin Shoebridge, Chief Operating Officer, explains: “To be honest, we didn’t focus too much on the race.” first day of the Copa América right now. It’s always worth taking stock of where we are in our campaign, we’re always aware of the ticking clock, but if there’s one thing we always have to be careful about, it’s not getting ahead of ourselves as a team, sticking to our overall goal. plan and continue to focus on the details day by day.
Emirates Team New Zealand is coming to the end of a very intense leg in Barcelona, a carefully choreographed program that tests, competes and develops to get used to the much talked about conditions sailing at Te Rehutai at all points of the wind range and surf.
“We’ve been running a pretty efficient water program here.” Shoebridge explained.
«A lot has happened with the AC40s, competing in Vilanova and then, of course, with the AC75, extracting as much data and knowledge as we can about the conditions, the systems and, of course, the teams. The sailing conditions here in Barcelona have been incredible, we couldn’t have asked for anything better. It’s going to be a very challenging place to race and the whole team needs to be prepared for anything.
I think there will be a wide variety of race conditions, so what we see on the first day of racing could be completely different than what we see on day five of racing. Boats will have their different sweet spots as conditions change. So, looking across the fleet, it’s going to be a fascinating America’s Cup, and we need to be on our game to win against arguably the strongest lineup of rivals in a long time. “So as a team we have made sure to make the most of every day on the water and, more importantly, in the shed too.”
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, operations are equally busy for the design and construction teams at the Wynyard Wharf base and at the North Shore production facility, where some of the company’s most critical decisions and actions are taking place. campaign, including the construction of the next-generation AC75 that will be on the starting line of the Copa América match in a year’s time.
Geoff Senior, construction manager at Emirates Team New Zealand, explains how, one year on, the boatbuilding team is under pressure. «For the construction team, it is now our America’s Cup regatta. To every boy and girl in the shed, this is our time to meet the team. We are undertaking a challenging construction schedule for the construction of the new ship to ensure we can deliver it in time for fit-out and eventual launch and commissioning here in Auckland.
It takes a whole team to produce a new AC75. From the input of sailors as clients, to the designers and engineers, the high-quality construction plans of the draftsmen, the skilled boat builders and the shipyard’s young apprentices and even the materials that must be purchased up to 12 months before the start of construction. “Every aspect must be aligned before the production of thousands of pieces can come together.”
It is Senior who works with the design and construction teams to find the balance between the designers and engineers who routinely reduce time to create the best possible design solutions, and the boatbuilding team who always strive to build the AC75s, increasingly more complex, better and faster. than the previous boat, and where hours of work are required to save just hundreds of grams of weight.
Chief designer Dan Bernasconi explains: «Although much of the team has been in Barcelona, the core of the design team has stayed here in New Zealand, staying one step ahead of the construction team and fine-tuning every detail of the new AC75. “It is an exciting time, and although publicly all eyes are on the recognition and what is happening on the water in Barcelona, behind the doors of our base is our busiest time.”
Summary by Kevin Shoebridge: “There are many things that will develop over the next year, and that is before the new AC75s are launched and racing in the Challenger Selection Series begins. What I do know is that it will be an incredible event here in Barcelona. and Emirates Team New Zealand will have to perform at its best to win the America’s Cup again against a formidable rival, whoever it may be.”.
2023-10-12 08:14:46
#year #regatta #Copa #América #Barcelona
