There remain much to be done and little time in which to do it as Team New Zealand has two weeks remaining during which to tweak their boat for the America’s Cup.
They have been in Bermuda for the past three weeks, and while from the shore, it might look like an exercise in serenity, for the sailors and management, new parts are arriving for the Kiwi entry in the catamaran class of the America’s Cup.
New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby and the rest of the brain trust that relies on wind to achieve speed must use the next two weeks to make critical, and in some instances, irrevocable decisions on how to trim out the boat for the race.
The biggest item still in the testing stage is the boat’s daggerboards, foils that lift the boats out of the water, reducing hydraulic drag on the hulls, in the quest to squeeze every possible gram of speed. The team has between now and May 27 to find the best possible configuration of the part that could well determine the performance of the boat.
The other teams in the race are engaged in the same process in the hopes of making last-minute improvements to gain any significant or incremental edge.
Since the first part of the race will be held in the Caribbean, we think a few cannons, and perhaps Jack Sparrow for skipper of one of the boats, might be an appropriate measure.