\u201cWe\u2019ve got a pretty good core team, but, we couldn\u2019t get all of the sailors we have in the core team on the one boat. I guess it came down to a bit about how we think we could put our best foot forward,\u201d Outteridge said of how the sailing crews were selected for the regatta. <\/p>\n
\u201cJosh and Jake have been doing a fantastic job in the wider programme, but because they still meet the youth category, it was a bit of a no-brainer to put them on that [second] boat. We\u2019ve selected Erica to be the skipper of the Women\u2019s America\u2019s Cup team, so she was always going to be on that boat as well, and Serena really proved to be such a strong candidate when it comes to the women\u2019s team. <\/p>\n
\u201c[They] kind of ended up being relatively obvious decisions in hindsight, and I think that\u2019ll put us in good shape to have two strong teams.\u201d <\/p>\n
Team NZ are one of three teams that have taken that option, and skipper Nathan Outteridge said it was an opportunity to not just put some pressure on the main team sailors, but also the next generation talents within the group. <\/p>\n
Italian challenger Luna Rossa and British entry GB1 have also entered two vessels into the regatta in Cagliari, while France\u2019s La Roche-Posay Racing Team and Switzerland\u2019s Tudor Team Alinghi will only feature their top team. <\/p>\n
Late entries from the United States and Australia will not feature in this regatta, given they were only recently confirmed to be joining the starting line for the main event in Naples next year. <\/p>\n
\u201cResults are obviously very important. It\u2019s a really good way to benchmark us against other teams. Putting the results side of it to one side, I guess for us it\u2019s a chance to go through our operations and processes. As you know, we\u2019ve got new people into the sailing team, we\u2019ve got the youth and women\u2019s group here as well who are also part of the team for this weekend, but we\u2019re trying to help prepare them as best we can for future events,\u201d Outteridge said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really good chance to put everyone under pressure. There\u2019s one thing to be sailing in Auckland day in and day out and if we as a sailing team don\u2019t deliver on a training day, you can let it slide. If there\u2019s a technical issue with the boat and the boat\u2019s not functional, it\u2019s disappointing, you lose an hour or two of sailing, but you can\u2019t afford those things on race day. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, for a global team, it\u2019s more about everyone delivering in their areas. We\u2019ve got a really good build-up over the next few days still to come and we get three days to really sort of put everything into practice, but also at the same time it\u2019s a good chance to check in against other teams and we\u2019ll have another event in a couple of months where we\u2019ll be able to hopefully take another step forward again.\u201d <\/p>\n
America\u2019s Cup preliminary regatta<\/p>\n
Cagliari, Sardinia. May 21-25 from 11pm (NZT). <\/p>\n
Thursday: Practice racing.<\/p>\n
Friday: Up to three fleet races<\/p>\n
Saturday: Up to three fleet races<\/p>\n
Sunday: Up to two fleet races and the final two-boat match race.<\/p>\n