On her foils in a couple of seconds - Te Kahu - Emirates Team NZ's test boat - Waitemata Harbour - February 11, 2020 © Richard Gladwell / Sail-World.com
Initially there was the usual chase around the harbour and North Shore beaches looking for some foilable breeze.
Once in it Te Kahu, a 38ft long test boat built to be a half scale AC75 was put through her paces in the absence of regular helmsman Peter Burling, who along with Blair Tuke, is contesting the 49er Worlds in Geelong, Vic, Australia.
As a test boat, Te Kahu is not constrained by the AC75 rule, she also provides means of testing ideas at potentially at lower cost than the AC75 while being linked to the the same performance database as the AC75.
Te Kahu appeared to be very fast when foiling - without being apparently slower than an AC75. She also lifted effortlessly onto her foils - in a breeze that appeared to be around 12 kts.