America's Cup - Emirates Team NZ elaborates on the pedal-powered AC50

by Richard Gladwell/Peter Montgomery on 20 Feb 2017 Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Shoebridge is one of the members of Emirates Team New Zealand who can trace his America's Cup experience back to the first Kiwi challenge in Fremantle in 1986/87 with Kiwi Magic.

Before that as a 21-year-old sailmaker he was part of Peter Blake's Lion New Zealand crew along with now ETNZ CEO Grant Dalton - then on his second Whitbread Round the World Race.

Much to Blake's chagrin, Dalton announced midway through the 1985/86 Whitbread that he was going to set up and skipper his own campaign for the next race, while Shoebridge stayed with Blake on Steinlager 2 for the 1989/90 edition.

The epic rivalry between the ketch rigged 84ft maxis Steinlager 2 and Fisher & Paykel, became one of the legends of sailing. Shoebridge too, went on to skipper his own boat Team Tyco in the 2001/02 Volvo Ocean Race.

Kevin Shoebridge is now COO of Emirates Team New Zealand, working alongside his long-time friend and nemesis CEO Grant Dalton.

At last Thursday's christening and launch ceremony of the AC50 foiling wingsailed catamaran, Shoebridge spoke to top international sailing commentator Peter Montgomery about the 35th America's Cup campaign, the change, and growth of the team, and compared the current boat and Cup to previous editions.

'It's taken us a couple of years to get to this point, and that boat we have just launched is the sharp end of a huge amount of effort that has gone in. The team has worked incredibly hard over the last couple of months to get the boat on the water - but we are super happy with the boat.

The Team has around 80 members at the Beaumont Street base which borders on Auckland's Westhaven marina, nestled in amongst a specialist superyacht maintenance facility. A further 10-strong special projects team is south of Auckland where the daggerboards and appendages are made.

'There are about 30 designers, and only 12 in the sailing team, plus a 40 strong shore team. Although these boats look simple, they are a huge amount of work,' he adds.

Recalling his earlier America's Cup involvements, Shoebridge says there are now a lot more engineers than naval architects - the shift to one design has meant that there are only two yacht design specialists in the team.

'The area of focus now is in the areas where you are allowed to make advancements - dagger-foils design, the rudders and elevators and all the hydraulic and electronic controls that go into driving the rudders, the daggerboards and the wing.'

'Although there are fewer areas into which to design, you put more resource into it because that is the only way you can get any advantage', he adds.

'They are incredibly smart people - you sit in a meeting for half and hour, and it is amazing as to what goes on. '

'We started off with a core team after San Francisco, and then we chose very carefully and specifically who we were looking for.'

At the start of the previous America's Cup campaign, when the team was transitioning from monohull to multihull design and technology - 'we just had to grab people who had multihull experience - now it is a lot more refined.'

'Now if you have a problem with your software, you don't go sailing for the day - it used to be that only a winch problem or hydraulic problem could keep you off the water. It's a different sport now in many ways.'

The Team New Zealand AC50 was built by Southern Spars - who like most serious composite engineering companies are diversifying into new project areas.

'They have the facilities, they have the manpower and did a fantastic job. The boat was delivered right on time, right down to weight. It was a great build, and we have had a really nice relationship with them for a long time.'

Long time builder for Team New Zealand, Cookson Boats, still stayed involved, building the cross beams for the AC50.

Turning to the switch to pedal power, Shoebridge says that the crew weight limitation of 87.5kg average meant they could not put aboard the hulking grinders that have been a feature of the modern America's Cup dating back to the start of the 12 Metre class era in 1956.

'It would be very difficult to fit the big guys that we had last time at 112-115kgs under that limit. We had to look for a different physical model', he added.

Leg power rather than arm power was an obvious route.

'But it is a lot more complicated than that - you are trying to use pedaling in a different environment to drive hydraulic pumps; your windage has to be low; you still have to get from one side of the boat to the other and clip into pedals - so there were a few challenges along the way.'

'We have been quietly developing it for nearly two years now. There have been a lot of mockups, a lot of wind tunnel sessions - a lot of effort has gone into the concept.'

'Unless you put that effort in for a long time, you wouldn't actually see the benefits.'

Shoebridge's America's Cup experience began in the 1987 America's Cup sailed in 12 Metres. The former sailmaker/trimmer on KZ-7, says the crew function has changed completely in the AC50 class. 'In the past, the (grinding) crew would have many other functions and would be involved in a gybe for instance, by pulling sheets and moving poles and jockey poles and that sort of thing.

'Now the grinders just provide power for the hydraulics, and they move to the other side. It is a very simplified function that they now have.'

'But that said it is always good to have outstanding yachtsmen on board.'

Shoebridge notes that they have engaged a younger more athletic group of sailors this time around. A quick calculation, excluding skipper Glenn Ashby, would give an average age of the wider sailing crew aboard the AC50 of approximately 26-27 years. Almost all are drawn from the 2012 and 2016 New Zealand Olympic teams in Sailing, Rowing and Cycling.

The changes have been dramatic over the years from 1986/87 when Shoebridge and the New Zealand team first started into the America's Cup off the back of a rogue entry by a Belgian jeweler with Kiwi business interests.

' For us, it is the thing that keeps it very fresh and very interesting because you are not just going back over old ground. You are usually doing something that is groundbreaking in a lot of ways regarding the designs and ideas.'

Shoebridge said one of the keys to the Emirates Team NZ performance in this project was that the 'relationship between the guys in the design office and the sailing team is so strong. That is what drives the ideas. The yachtsmen are the ones that come up with the practical ideas. The designers are the ones that try and deliver it for them.'

'The sailor's feel for a boat now is still just as important as it was in the monohull era.'

As for the immediate future, Shoebridge says 'we will be sailing in Auckland for at least another six-seven weeks. Then it is a quick pack-up, load the AC50 onto a plane, fly it to Bermuda, and then we will be sailing in Bermuda a couple of weeks after that.

'We will have probably 5-6 weeks of training on the course in Bermuda before race 1

'It's a very tight program, but we think we are making the most of the Auckland summer. We have all the facilities here. We have the base here. We are very productive here.'

'The cycling is one thing, but it is only one thing of a whole lot of things that need to go your way to win this America's Cup.'

To hear the full interview with Peter Montgomery click on the link below: