CHASING TE REHUTAI

Described as being in a “ball of spray” by the recon team, the Kiwis pushed Te Rehutai to the absolute limit and Nathan Outteridge gave a superb summary of the day, talking after sailing and looking more than pleased with how the day unfolded, saying: “It's been quite a windy forecast for the week, so we really want to get out there in the waves and see how the big boat handles the seaway because last campaign pretty much everyone just ran away from waves at all times so you know we took it a little bit slowly today went to the Back Paddock checked the new sail, the J5, and it was 18 to 20 knots there and after a few laps we thought alright we’ve got to get out in the waves and see how we go…we then stopped and went out and it was a bit lighter for sure, like down around 15 knots which was probably quite nice, quite entertaining in the puffs, but we got out there and did a few laps in the seaway and yeah very different boat when you're in waves for sure.”

It was a tricky session with wind and waves at a kilter to each other and called for serious boat control and risk management in the conditions from the whole Emirates Team New Zealand set-up as Nathan continued:  “The waves weren't lined up with the wind today, we had the north-east swell with more of an easterly wind direction so on starboard you could have more steering modes whereas on port you were just locked in straight through. If the trough was big you’ve got a lot on to keep the rudder in the water and if it was a bit flatter you could send it a bit harder.”

Comparing the AC75 to the AC40, it’s obvious from listening to Nathan that it’s a much heavier boat that carries its way and demands a completely different skill set and he gave a brilliant explanation saying: “It’s interesting compared to the AC40, in those conditions in the AC40 with it being so much lighter when you stick the whole foil airborne it crashes down really hard, whereas with this boat being so much bigger and heavier it kind of smooths out the ride. So, you stick your head over the side, and you can see the foil going in and out the water quite a lot and the boat handles it pretty nicely so long as you keep consistent load through the rig and you're not slamming the hull too much. But it’s really the rudder that you’re trying to focus on downwind and keeping it in the water, so you maintain your steerage and lift from that.”

The recon team noted that Te Rehutai was almost surfing at times down the back of waves, keeping the pitch very much in a bow-up power mode as Nathan confirmed: “Yeah exactly it's faster to have less foil in the water everywhere but it's not very fast when it's in the air so we were chasing that trim around a lot today to just keep it nice and safe and I think as we do more and more days, we will be pushing it a lot harder.”

Overall the team came off the water late in the afternoon, thoroughly pleased with their work and as Nathan said afterwards: “Considering as a team we haven't done any sessions in conditions like that I think it went pretty well and definitely a lot of things to talk about tonight and with the way the forecast is, hopefully a few more days this week in conditions like that. It's a pretty important thing to utilise when we get it because you know with Barcelona you can get quite a lot of seaway, maybe not always with heaps of wind, but that's kind of what we’re chasing here.”

The chase goes on – not least for the recon team trying to keep up with a stunningly fast Te Rehutai at full bore. More to come this week from Emirates Team New Zealand in big breeze and waves.

Onboard today:

Helms: Nathan Outteridge / Pete Burling

Trimmers: Andy Maloney / Blair Tuke

Power Group: Simon van Velthooven / Marius van der Pol / Louis Sinclair / Louis Crosby / Hamish Bond / Marcus Hansen / Sam Meech