America’s Cup 2021: the New Zealand team impresses in the second round of official training

The New Zealand team continued their promising form in the America’s Cup practice races on Thursday, while two of the rivals failed to get in front.

Peter Burling had the advantage over Jimmy Spithill and Luna Rossa in the first skirmish and had an advantage of more than 30 seconds after two stages when the test ended.

The New Zealand team fell behind in the second ‘race’ of the day, before finding some extra speed to take down the Italians, again holding the lead when the session ended. The third outing was clearer, with the European team pulling the pin at the beginning of the first beat, having been completely outscored at the beginning, as the home boat drifted off into the distance.

Not much can be read at this stage, but the Kiwi boat showed good speed in a straight line and was confident in its maneuvers, which will please the hierarchy of the team.

Things will not be so positive at INEOS Team UK, after the British yacht again failed to advance. Sir Ben Ainslie’s team did not participate Tuesday after a problem with their mast, which caused them to be towed back to base, and work continues today in Britannia.

American Magic was also not a starter Thursday. They had impressed Tuesday, with helmsman Dean Barker showing expert handling and confidence in tough situations, but some unspecified issues with Patriot meant they were unable to participate today. Both unions will race against the clock to be part of tomorrow’s official practice session and appear to be unlikely starters.

The New Zealand team got off to a solid start on Thursday. Practice was delayed for over an hour due to strong winds, but once it got underway Burling gained an advantage over the Italians at the start, after some jousting with Luna Rossa.

Te Rehutai maintained his lead on the first beat and held a 37-second lead on the second mark when the first practice run came to an end.

The action took place again at Racecourse E, which is the most isolated of the five options, in East Auckland opposite Bucklands Beach.

It is subject to a definite wind bias and is affected by tides more than other courses, so it is difficult to get too much information.

Still, it was an encouraging performance from the New Zealand team, considering their lack of time in the water on their second boat. The crew has had just over a fortnight of training at Te Rehutai, which was launched just a month ago.

It seems they are already ahead of the curve, only on the second day did we see the AC75s face off in Auckland Harbor.

However, Challengers will benefit from the lengthened Prada Cup in January and February, so have time on your side.

Testing continues on Friday, ahead of the Copa America World Series that begins next Thursday.