Tuke gives AC40 boat big tick

Team New Zealand star Blair Tuke has given the new America’s Cup test boat a huge tick after his first ride on the AC40.

Tuke and good mate Peter Burling hopped off a plane from Europe where they have ignited their Sailgp campaign with some stunning results to jump on the AC40 and take it for a demanding test session on the Waitemata Harbour.

They moved from the F50 catamarans of Sailgp back into the foiling monohulls of the America’s Cup with ease, delighted with the performance of the half-scale AC40 as they hit speeds in excess of 30 knots.

‘‘It was pretty epic. It’s an awesome package,’’ Tuke said. ‘‘It was an awesome day. We had a NE 15-18kts.

‘‘It was good testing, and we learned a lot. We were pushing it in fast mode. It’s an awesome package and with a bit more refinement will be a great boat for the youth and women’s America’s Cup and for the teams to do their testing on.’’

Tuke noted they had the benefit of the commissioning work their Team New Zealand team-mates Nathan Outteridge, Ray Davies, Sam Meech and Ray Davies undertook last week as the search for the true potential of the one-class design continues.

They shared the four-seat boat with Outteridge and Meech and much of their focus was on really pushing the autopilot flight control system in some lumpy conditions, eager to see how it would react in waves.

They made 13 tacks and nine gybes with just one splashdown.

‘‘We’re still working on autopilot, so we tried finding a few more ways to test it,’’ Tuke explained.

‘‘We tucked in behind a few more waves, but it didn’t do anything [nosedive], so we went around to Shark Alley, and the waves there lined up for us, which was intentional.

‘‘We learned a lot today and tested the refinements from the previous days.

‘‘Just three days in and being able to push it like that is pretty cool.’’

Team New Zealand will keep pushing the boundaries in the AC40’S one design mode, but will also be eager to explore its potential as a test boat for their new AC75 that will be used for the defence of the America’s Cup in Barcelona in 2024.