America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ restarts AC75 development program
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 7 Oct 08:14 BST
Emirates Team New Zealand - October 6, 2026 - Auckland © Sam Thom/America's Cup
Emirates Team New Zealand took to the Hauraki Gulf on Tuesday, recommencing their test and development program on Day 22 of their quota of 45 sailing days for 2026.
They are the first team to start sailing after the second Preliminary Regatta in Naples, and are heading into the New Zealand summer sailing season.
The SW equinoctial gales that have beleaguered Auckland for the past month or more gave way to more kindly sea breezes from the East, starting at 12-17kts in the morning and easing to 7-10kts in the afternoon.
"It's a beautiful day here back in Auckland, co-helm Seb Menzies told the ACP Recon Team assigned to follow Emirates Team NZ. "We had solid breeze the whole day and sun. It's still pretty cold. We're still in the dry suits."
The only obvious change appears to be a new jib sheeting system with marks - a nod to the practice of being able to sight the setting, as well as being able to see where the on-board computers and hydraulic systems readouts show the settings.
Today was a commissioning day for the AC75 as well as the crew.
They started the day heading up the inshore course for a gallop on the Paddock - their training area off Eastern Beach.
There they performed several Figure of Eight exercises - designed to get the cobwebs out of the crew-work. As the coaching team becomes more demonic, the loops get tighter and tighter until the crew-work inevitably breaks down, at which point the exercise is over. However, it gives a good read on the state of crew co-ordination.
Of course, in the days of manually powered AC75s this exercise would bring the grinding/cycling team to exhaustion. Quite how it works with battery power - albeit tuned to the same level of output generated by human crew - remains to be seen. Maybe that was part of the exercise, as well as a test of crew choreography.
As the breeze eased, they sailed across the northern end (most westerly end) of Waiheke Island, and into the outer Hauraki Gulf, where the sea-state seemed to have eased a little with the incoming tide - coming from the same direction of the breeze.
A quick glance over the declared components revealed no change, and you'd have to think that from the numbering sequence on the jib - J2-1 and J3-1 that they were using very legacy gear. They spent 1.5hrs on the J2-1, and 2.5hrs on the J3-1.
Menzies said the issues they had on board today were "nothing serious. It's just getting back into the swing of things, and a few things have changed in the boat. Obviously, we haven't sailed in a while. It's just easing into it and making sure everything's looking good."
Emirates Team New Zealand took to the Hauraki Gulf on Tuesday, recommencing their test and development program on Day 22 of their quota of 45 sailing days for 2026.
They are the first team to start sailing after the second Preliminary Regatta in Naples, and are heading into the New Zealand summer sailing season.
The SW equinoctial gales that have beleaguered Auckland for the past month or more, gave way to more kindly sea breezes from the East, starting at 12-17kts in the morning and easing to 7-10kts in the afternoon.
The only obvious change appears to be a new jib sheeting system with marks - a nod to the practice of being able to sight the setting, as well as being able to see where the on-board computers and hydraulic systems readouts show the settings.
Today was a commissioning day for the AC75 as well as the crew.
They started the day heading up the inshore course for a gallop on the Paddock - their training area off Eastern Beach.
There they performed several Figure of Eight exercises - designed to get the cobwebs out of the crew-work. As the coaching team becomes more demonic, the loops get tighter and tighter until the crew-work inevitably breaks down, at which point the exercise is over. However, it gives a good read on the state of crew co-ordination.
Of course, in the days of manually powered AC75s this exercise would bring the grinding/cycling team to exhaustion. Quite how it works with battery power - albeit tuned to the same level of output generated by human crew - remains to be seen. Maybe that was part of the exercise, as well as a test of crew choreography.
As the breeze eased, they sailed across the northern end (most westerly end) of Waiheke Island, and into the outer Hauraki Gulf, where the sea-state seem to have eased a little with the incoming tide - coming from the same direction of the breeze.
A quick glance over the declared components revealed no change and you'd have to think that from the numbering sequence on the jib - J2-1 and J3-1 that they were using very legacy gear. They spent 1.5hrs on the J2-1, and 2.5hrs on the J3-1
"We weren't searching for any certain condition. It was quite a small but like messy sea state today."
Menzies explained that the sloppy sea state means there's a lot less margin for error.
"Everyone's trying to get the boat super low to the water. As soon as there are waves, you are either weighing up the risk of touching a wave or getting the boat nice and close to the water."
"That's a lot to work through for everyone, and it is generally quite a bit harder to sail the boat as soon as there are any waves."
"In Naples we didn't see a huge amount of waves, but it's always good to check back in."
Menzies says the objective in the Figure of Eight exercises was "preparing for a match race starts where the boats have to do real aggressive turns. So we're checking through a number of different things with that."
"We're anticipating the boats having to do high turn rates and a lot of low-speed manoeuvres as well. Obviously, the starts are probably the most important part of the race."
Looking back to the Preliminary Event at Naples, Menzies pointed out that the one design nature of the AC40s made them quite different from the custom design AC75s. But the team's takeaway from Naples was to create "an overall hunger that'll keep going and keep pushing the boats, and as a team push forward together."
The team sailed again on Wednesday, Day 23 of the buildup campaign.
Recon Report - October 6, 2026 - Sailing Day 22 - Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand
Recon Team track - Emirates Team New Zealand - October 6, 2026 - Auckland - photo © America's Cup Media
Wind & Sea Conditions:
- AM: Overcast. Wind: 12-17kts 090° (E)
- PM: Sunny. Wind: 7-10kts 090° (E)
- Sea State: Medium (AM) Medium (PM)
Sailing Stats:
- Dock Out: 1100hrs
- Dock In: 1625hrs
- Time sailed: 4hrs
- Foiling time: Not reported
- Tacks: No data Gybes: No data
Crew List:
- Port Helm: Seb Menzies (NZL)
- Starboard Helm: Nathan Outteridge (AUS/NZL)
- Port Trimmer: Iain Jensen (AUS)
- Starboard Trimmer: Andy Maloney (NZL)
- P5: Jo Aleh (NZL)
- P6: Josh Armit (NZL)
Key Points:
- Choppy/Messy sea state.
- Cold easterly.
- First day of new training block.
First day of the spring training block for ETNZ as they rolled out of the shed at 0925hrs. Attached was the short rudder seen at the end of the last training block. ETNZ was also seen with several new test stripes painted on the inner foil wings and arm.
This, along with the foil cameras being mounted only on the inner wings, suggests an area of testing focus for the day. Splashing down at 1003, there was considerable time spent by the team on the rudder tower and jib traveller system. This was explained by Seb Menzies in the interview as part of the commissioning process of new modifications. The crew consisted of Outteridge, Menzies, Maloney, Jensen, Aleh, Armit.
ETNZ were off the dock at 1100 and off the tow under Motuihe Island at 1132. Hoisting their M2-0 main and J3-1 they started sailing at 1201 in a cold 12-17 knot easterly. The wave state was a surprisingly sharp, steep chop, that varied considerably in the channel versus further up into the shelter of Waiheke Island. After one up and down, ETNZ stopped at 1219 to adjust the jib tack before once again sailing at 1232. The session ended at 1251 and consisted mostly of straight line testing. It was interesting that ETNZ was on the J3-1 version of their J3 today, whereas the previous training block was mostly spent on the J3-3.
The second session started at 1302 and consisted of more straight line testing followed by a couple of runs with more tacking and gybing. It looked like ETNZ were keeping the board down longer in the gybes and gliding for longer before raising the board at a rate which kept heel steady. There also seemed to be a bit of testing in the range of boat pitch. ETNZ ended the session by sailing around to the northern side of Waiheke where they stopped. Switching the foil cameras in their break.
At 1404 the next session started in a much lighter 10-14 knots. ETNZ spent the whole time throwing the boat through progressively more aggressive figure of 8s. There was no simulated restarts but rather a structured testing of the boat through these manoeuvres at what would be the bottom end of the wind range for the J3. By the time the session ended at 1430 the wind had dropped significantly to around 7-10 knots.
ETNZ then changed to their J2-1 and started sailing at 1425. Once again it is interesting ETNZ went with their J2-1 instead of their usual j2-2. Also despite the light wind the sea state remained, being short but steep and from a mixed direction. This creating challenging conditions for ETNZ to push their ride height without splashing the hull. At 1508 ETNZ had a short break before continuing sailing at 1517 with a long sail down the north side of Rangitoto Island down to Takapuna Beach, where the sea state was much flatter. Before ending their day off of North Head at 1553. Back at the dock at 1625.
Overall a solid first day of this spring training block. Making the most of reasonably strong morning breeze that steadily eased throughout the day. A strong day of testing runs with no organised prestart practices and no VIPs.