America’s Cup: New Zealand team looks stylish at first official practice

America’s Cup defenders, the New Zealand team, kicked off the first official practice on the new AC75 boats on Tuesday, although the British challenger was one of the first casualties.

Regatta Director Iain Murray called the session for Tuesday afternoon with the New Zealand team in first place at 3.10pm, with the starting area for three practice starts.

Teams are officially allowed to face opposition for the first time with the Course E zone, located across from Bucklands Beach, chosen for the historic moment.

The Kiwis had the American Magic of the New York Yacht Club with them for a series of start routines, invaluable training for one of the key zones of the race format.

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Getting off the line cleanly and precisely will be vital, given the high speeds of these 75-foot foiling monohulls.

American Magic had a moment of anxiety when their AC75 Patriot reared during a tight corner.

American Magic, Luna Rossa and INEOS Team UK were entitled to the starting zone in a three-hour session that would end around 6pm, although the British union was experiencing some unspecified problems.

They returned to their base shortly after 5 p.m., which was their allotted time at the practice starting line.

It was a heavy blow to Sir Ben Ainslie’s crew, who have had the Britannia II in the shed for many days over the past month amid rumors of problems with the new ship.

There was no race as such, although the teams were able to circle the circuit and get their first chance to get some real data from their opponents’ boats.

The kiwis closed in on their archrivals Luna Rossa.

Murray decided to use Course E, better known as “The Paddock”, due to its comparative isolation, wanting to avoid a large fleet of spectators.

Teams were using the day as a shakedown for a normal day’s races as a busy schedule looms for the next three months.

They left their Auckland bases shortly after 1pm to head to the field area and were doing their own warm-ups before being called to the starting area.

Much of the session focused on Murray and his career officers testing their career systems, as well as television broadcasters having the opportunity to work through their complex systems.

There will be an additional practice session on Thursday afternoon.

Practice races are scheduled for Friday and next Monday and Tuesday before the first official race that begins Thursday, December 17, opening day of the four-day world series and the Christmas Cup regatta.