In April 2016 Australian Nathan Outteridge was competing in Barcelona in 49er. He was going for the European gold that his also Olympic rival, the New Zealander Peter Burling, finally took. Seven years later, Nathan and Peter sail off Barcelona again, but this time they are on the same boat. The two aboard the AC75, a ship that demands not only maximum sporting performance from its crew members, but also the ability to understand the entire team behind it and the technology that propels them to speeds never seen before at sea.
Programmed to win (for a reason they are part of the elite of this sport) the sailors of the America's Cup are played in about twenty minutes of racing, the work of more than three years of hundreds of people. They make decisions flying at more than 40 knots and always go for more. The rapport between them is decisive. The slightest error is very expensive.
“When Grant Dalton and Kevin Shoebridge asked me if I wanted to join Emirates Team New Zealand…whew! It's just that I didn't need a second to answer... This is an incredible opportunity”, insists Nathan. The proposal was over a year ago and since then the focus has been on the next Copa del América, the one in Barcelona. It will be his third time. He rode with the Swiss team in the 2013 San Francisco and 2017 editions, “but then they decided not to compete in Auckland,” explains Nathan. In no way was he going to miss an edition at home and although he could not navigate, he lived the last America's Cup from another perspective: as a television commentator.
They say that he is the best sailing with little wind. He has been (between 2007 and 2015) four times world champion in 49er, twice silver and twice bronze. He also in the World Championship in Nacra 17 class he has won two silver medals. And the Olympics: the Australian won 49er gold in London beating Burling and Tuke and then the New Zealanders got their revenge in Rio, where Peter Burling took gold.
In Barcelona, Nathan defends the New Zealand flag. He has nationality because his wife, Emma – daughter of Ross Blackman, veteran manager of Emirates Team New Zealand – is from that country and they have his house there. The couple and their two children arrived in Barcelona in July. They are excited about the city. Nathan spends most of the day at the team base and in the water. "Part of our job is to know the navigation conditions and the other, to know the boat to always be able to navigate faster," he says.
His day starts at seven in the morning. Gym session –four of the eight crew members are cyclists– technical sessions, simulator hours... “We usually take the boat out –the Te Rehutai with which they have sailed at more than a hundred kilometers per hour– at noon to take advantage of the breeze Marine". Then, prepare the objectives for the next day.
“One of the things that has impressed me the most about this team is the level of organization, the precision with which everything is done,” acknowledges Outteridge. Precision, the keyword. As they sail, he and Burling pass the helm to each other. Driving the AC75 has a lot of F1. "It's like imagining yourself driving a car but as big as a truck." Each one from their place, with a helmet and all connected by radio. At breakneck speed they read, process and interpret all the information that the screen throws, all kinds of levels, the speed of the air, the boat, the sails, the foils...
Throughout the summer – and while the winter passes in Auckland – they will train in Barcelona. Then, during the Barcelona winter, they will return, like the good weather, to New Zealand to debut the AC75 with which they will defend the Cup in one of the most closely fought editions.
