America’s Cup rivals Peter Burling and Sir Ben Ainslie have refuted suggestions teams will be sandbagging at December’s warm-up regatta, insisting the racing will be fair-dinkum.
While some of the latest foils might be kept dry for the real action in Auckland from January to March, the competitive instincts of the world’s best sailors on board the sport’s most radical boats will ensure the world series regatta and Christmas Cup are highly competitive.
It’s the only time the four teams will have a chance to legally check in against each other ahead of the Prada Cup challenger series and the America’s Cup match.
“You’ve got so much to learn and the other people are learning so much by putting their best foot forward, so I’m sure everyone will be pushing pretty hard to take it out.
“The rule at the moment says we aren’t able to sail in a co-ordinated manner, so you are kind of limited in the scope you can do against the other teams. So it’s going to be a great opportunity to get out there and race.
“It will be great for the event to build up the hype and really showcase what these boats can do.”
Team New Zealand’s wing controller Glenn Ashby has the same mindset: “You get 11 guys on board who are all pretty competitive, no one is going to be wanting to hold back, so it is going to be game on.”
With warm-up regattas in Italy and Britain cancelled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, teams are eager to get a feel for these radical boats in close-up situations.
Ainslie, who won the 2013 America’s Cup with Oracle Team USA against Team New Zealand and is now in his second term in charge of the British challenge, concurred.
“I don’t expect anyone to be sandbagging, we haven’t really got time for that,” Ainslie implored.
“That’s the first time we really get a gauge where our competitors are at and it’s going to be fascinating to see where we are all at.
“Even though it’s a training event really, the teams will want to put their best foot forward for sure.”
