OPINION: It’s been over a week since Emirates Team New Zealand unveiled their new America's Cup Class catamaran, and the sailing world is still getting its heads around the pedal-powered AC50.
The cycling grinding system had been in the works for three years, but remarkably had been kept under wraps from the prying eyes of rivals and media until the boat made its surprise first appearance.
It was an unpublicised launch, noticed by sail-world.com editor Richard Gladwell who snapped off the first photos of the unique boat. Of course the ever-present spies were there as well, relaying the information back to interested parties in Bermuda.
I'd love to know how the message went down. Softbank Team Japan skipper Dean Barker and Oracle's Jimmy Spithill both said their teams had looked at the cycle option but decided the negatives outweighed the positives - but they were unlikely to say "bugger, wish we'd thought of that".
When that call was made back to Bermuda, British syndicate Land Rover BAR had already launched their ACC boat and Oracle were less than a day from unveiling theirs.
Both have the conventional arm driven grinding configuration (as does Team Japan and Artemis Racing) and with less than 100 days until the first race of the Louis Vuitton qualifiers there simply isn't the time for those teams to make a change.
Team NZ says the bikes are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the developments on the boat. They've talked about the "drive chain" which takes the power from the grinders (or "cyclers" as the Kiwis have dubbed the new-age grinders) and uses it through the hydraulic systems.
The pedal power produces huge amounts of power compared to the more conventional grinders, so copying the setup takes more than just making changes above deck.
On top of that, the physique of the Team NZ grinders compared to the opposing teams is now completely different. The Kiwis have been on the bikes building their leg muscles, while the grinders on the other boats are top heavy.
What that all means is Team NZ have played a very smart game. They've done the work to confirm their belief that the approach is the best one to win the Cup, and kept it away from their rivals until it was too late in the game for them to follow suit.
Keep in mind one of the biggest criticisms they copped in the last campaign was letting the foiling cat out of the bag too early, showing off the airborne AC72 on the Hauraki Gulf. I'm told Oracle were within days of shelving their own foiling plans after failing to get their heads around it, until they saw Team NZ take flight.
The reality was Team NZ had to bring the AC72 out into the open to learn how to sail it properly, and though they're again in the same situation the Kiwis have done a lot of initial work on mock setups behind closed doors until they reached this point.
They've also played their "blackout" card already when most anticipated it would be used during their relocation from Auckland to Bermuda. Depending on what the French unveil in the near future, the likelihood is Team NZ will be the only team using pedal power on the water.
There are still a few questions to be answered, such as how quick the crew will be out of the saddles for maneuvers and how exactly will the Kiwis use their superior hydraulic advantage. Those answers must come with the clock ticking down.
Like the last campaign they need time to learn the boat, and there's still the small matter of shipping it halfway around the globe. Even with the help of sponsor Emirates and some express airfreight, it leaves them with less time on the water in the new boat than any of the other teams.
But as the last week has shown the world a lot of very smart work has already been done behind closed doors, maybe enough to outsmart their America’s Cup rivals.
