New
Zealand pedal their way to brink of America's Cup glory
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[June 26, 2017]
By Alexander Smith
HAMILTON, Bermuda (Reuters) - Emirates
Team New Zealand will take to Bermuda's Great Sound on Monday with a
mission, to finally wipe out the hurt inflicted on the sports-mad
country by Oracle Team USA in the America's Cup.
But while leading 6-1 in the first-to-seven final should make
victory a near certainty, the Kiwis are not complacent.
"We are not taking anything for granted," New Zealand helmsman Peter
Burling said on Sunday after coolly steering his space-age 50-foot
(15 meter) catamaran to yet another win over the team's nemesis,
Oracle Team USA's skipper Jimmy Spithill.
It was Spithill and the team bankrolled by Oracle founder Larry
Ellison who in 2013 turned an 8-1 deficit against New Zealand into a
9-8 victory and a successful defense of the oldest trophy in
international sport.
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Burling, who at only 26 could also unseat Spithill as the youngest
ever person to helm a winning America's Cup team, has exuded a
disarming calm on and off the water. [L8N1JJ5IF]
He won Olympic gold in Rio last year in the 49er skiff class with
fellow crew member Blair Tuke and has brought a youthful confidence
to New Zealand's campaign to regain the "Auld Mug", which was first
won by the schooner "America" in 1851.
If New Zealand triumph, many will put it down to the revolutionary
"cycling" system developed to power the hydraulics needed to control
the catamaran's foils, which lift it out of the water, and the vast
"wing" sail which drives it along.
Their "cyclors", including an Olympic cycling medalist, have kept
their heads down throughout the contest, pedaling furiously to
provide enough oil in the system to allow the boat to perform almost
balletic pirouette maneuvers on the water.
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![](../images/062617pics/sports55.jpg)
Team Emirates New Zealand speeds towards the finish line to win race
eight over Oracle Team USA in America's Cup finals . REUTERS/Mike
Segar
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MIND OVER MATTER
But while the America's Cup is as much a design as a sailing race,
with tens of millions of dollars invested in the racing boats,
psychological games are also crucial.
The charismatic Spithill has more expertise in match racing, the
sailing equivalent of a boxing contest, and the benefit of nearly
two decades of America's Cup experience.
Even after losing two races on Sunday, Spithill was not in any mood
to give up, conceding that the U.S. crew had been outsailed by
Burling and his five Kiwi team mates, but vowing to come out
fighting again on Monday and take one race at a time.
None of this seems to have rattled Burling, despite a capsize in a
semi-final race which nearly ended the Kiwi dream.
If he can show the same composure on Monday, the man who has become
the face of the New Zealand team could win himself a place in
yachting history.
(Editing by Ken Ferris) [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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