America's Cup: Kevin Shoebridge ahead of the Preliminary Regatta

He’s the Chief Operating Officer of Emirates Team New Zealand and competing hard now in his tenth America’s Cup having started as a trimmer onboard the ‘Plastic Fantastic’ KZ7 of New Zealand’s first entry way back in 1987. Recently inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, Kevin Shoebridge, ubiquitously known as ‘Shoeb,’ is very much a focal point for everyone in Emirates Team New Zealand with a will to succeed that is renowned in America’s Cup circles.

Ahead of the Preliminary Regatta that starts on the 22nd August, the first time that we will see the new generation of AC75s being raced for real and it will be an early indicator of team's progress. Emirates Team New Zealand, as the holders and defenders of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup are the team that everyone benchmarks against but how confident are the team themselves in their preparations: “It’s the America’s Cup and anything can happen so confidence needs to be focused in the right direction. It’s always a ticking clock and each team works on their own timelines for their own programmes. For Emirates Team New Zealand, obviously the primary focus is on being ready and as prepared as possible for the America’s Cup Match from October 12th until the last race, but in saying that of course you want to perform well in whatever racing you do but we have to remind ourselves of our end goal, however the preliminary regatta provides a really good opportunity to line up with the other teams and get a feel for each other as well as some real-life racing and starting practice and course management.”

Many commentators, and indeed the recon programme, noted that teams excelled in certain conditions specific to their design and struggled in others, so how much will the weather conditions in the Preliminary Regatta dictate the outright success?