You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin from News Talks.

You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin from News Talks.

I'd be right to sail GP now is stunning day on the water in Auckland yesterday for the opening races. The black Folds are fourth after day one, Australia topped the leader board ahead of Great Britain and Spain. To talk us through day one and preview today's actions, sailing commentator Chris Steele joins me. Now, how are you doing?

I'd be right to sail GP now is stunning day on the water in Auckland yesterday for the opening races. The black Folds are fourth after day one, Australia topped the leader board ahead of Great Britain and Spain. To talk us through day one and preview today's actions, sailing commentator Chris Steele joins me. Now, how are you doing?

Chris? Yeah? Good, Thanks Sanjessa sailing now on the water of the yesterday.

Chris? Yeah? Good, Thanks Sanjessa sailing now on the water of the yesterday.

Yeah, wasn't it look from what you saw yesterday? Has the move to Auckland been a good call?

Yeah, wasn't it look from what you saw yesterday? Has the move to Auckland been a good call?

Yeah? I think the visuals kind of over exceeded the expectations. It certainly seemed like the organization of the league was pretty pretty happy with some of those shots. I mean I got on the water on a sort of common ty boat with a guest team. Then, Yeah, looking back at the shore and seeing that groundstand just absolutely jam packed it. It was prettympressive sight to see.

Yeah? I think the visuals kind of over exceeded the expectations. It certainly seemed like the organization of the league was pretty pretty happy with some of those shots. I mean I got on the water on a sort of common ty boat with a guest team. Then, Yeah, looking back at the shore and seeing that groundstand just absolutely jam packed it. It was prettympressive sight to see.

As you sort of walked, you know, through the sort of the shoreline part of it, or you might not have had a chance to do that what sort of was could you get a feel for the atmosphere.

As you sort of walked, you know, through the sort of the shoreline part of it, or you might not have had a chance to do that what sort of was could you get a feel for the atmosphere.

Yeah, there's definitely a bit of a buzz on down there. I mean, I guess there's quite a lot going on in North and City as a whole yesterday with a concert on last night as well, and obviously orking to see the football team paint. So yeah, there's certainly a buzz on afterwards. But yeah before racing as well, like as the day sort of goes on, and yet closer to that start time, there's definitely more and more people flowing down there for lunches and drinks and whatnot. And yeah, there's a great sort of atmosphere down there, and by the time you get to race time, it's certainly pretty jam pack down there.

Yeah, there's definitely a bit of a buzz on down there. I mean, I guess there's quite a lot going on in North and City as a whole yesterday with a concert on last night as well, and obviously orking to see the football team paint. So yeah, there's certainly a buzz on afterwards. But yeah before racing as well, like as the day sort of goes on, and yet closer to that start time, there's definitely more and more people flowing down there for lunches and drinks and whatnot. And yeah, there's a great sort of atmosphere down there, and by the time you get to race time, it's certainly pretty jam pack down there.

But the wind was a little fickle and tricky, wasn't it.

But the wind was a little fickle and tricky, wasn't it.

Yeah, the sort of northerly direction there, and that piece of water can be a little bit unstable as it comes off the sort of the north shore coastline there, being inside the harbor, but it was kind of sort of shifting back and forwards a little bit, which, you know, it pretty challenging out there for the sailors obviously, and made the skill for the guys to keep the boats on the foil. So the good news for spectators is that that careers quite a lot of passing lanes and the racing is quite exciting to watch. So yeah, I think today's obviously the breeze is going to be up a little bit more and it should be sort of around to the right but more sort of northeastern eastern, and it don't make the race course a little bit longer and hopefully the more steady to the breeze, So it should be pretty exciting out there today.

Yeah, the sort of northerly direction there, and that piece of water can be a little bit unstable as it comes off the sort of the north shore coastline there, being inside the harbor, but it was kind of sort of shifting back and forwards a little bit, which, you know, it pretty challenging out there for the sailors obviously, and made the skill for the guys to keep the boats on the foil. So the good news for spectators is that that careers quite a lot of passing lanes and the racing is quite exciting to watch. So yeah, I think today's obviously the breeze is going to be up a little bit more and it should be sort of around to the right but more sort of northeastern eastern, and it don't make the race course a little bit longer and hopefully the more steady to the breeze, So it should be pretty exciting out there today.

Would say, do you get a good sense of if you're not a sort of an expert like yourself, Chris, who knows what's going on, do you get a good sense of what is going on? Because eleven falling races on that compact course, it was pretty full on. You had you had boats going up wind, down wind, all sts of you know, is it quite exciting. Do you sort of have a good sense of what is going on?

Would say, do you get a good sense of if you're not a sort of an expert like yourself, Chris, who knows what's going on, do you get a good sense of what is going on? Because eleven falling races on that compact course, it was pretty full on. You had you had boats going up wind, down wind, all sts of you know, is it quite exciting. Do you sort of have a good sense of what is going on?

Yeah? I mean, obviously for me being involved in the sport for a long time and doing that style of racing myself, it's it's easy for me to figure out what's going on. But you know, for the other people that got sort of work on the boat. It was definitely difficult. I mean one of the hard things is the stream on TV with the commentary is quite delayed from the actual live event, and so you know, people don't really know when the race is about to start, so to speak, when you're out there watching and so I mean i'm shore. Obviously it's faster because they've got a direct link to the racing on the on the big screens, but yeah, out there on the water is a little bit of a delay, so it is a little bit difficult. And because the racecourse was so short yesterday, given the wind direction, you had quite a lot of boats of crossing over, you know, like you said, I'm going up whence I'm going down when Yeah, you do lose track of the leaders a little bit. But yeah, I mean, like I said, today the racecourse will be a little bit longer and the boats should all sort of be on the same league at the same time hopefully, So yeah, definitely should be a little bit easier to follow today.

Yeah? I mean, obviously for me being involved in the sport for a long time and doing that style of racing myself, it's it's easy for me to figure out what's going on. But you know, for the other people that got sort of work on the boat. It was definitely difficult. I mean one of the hard things is the stream on TV with the commentary is quite delayed from the actual live event, and so you know, people don't really know when the race is about to start, so to speak, when you're out there watching and so I mean i'm shore. Obviously it's faster because they've got a direct link to the racing on the on the big screens, but yeah, out there on the water is a little bit of a delay, so it is a little bit difficult. And because the racecourse was so short yesterday, given the wind direction, you had quite a lot of boats of crossing over, you know, like you said, I'm going up whence I'm going down when Yeah, you do lose track of the leaders a little bit. But yeah, I mean, like I said, today the racecourse will be a little bit longer and the boats should all sort of be on the same league at the same time hopefully, So yeah, definitely should be a little bit easier to follow today.

Why do you think the New Zealand team had a bit of a slow start. I mean, it looked like they were kind of figuring it out and then unraceful. They came out and went, oh, we've got this, and they made winning look easy.

Why do you think the New Zealand team had a bit of a slow start. I mean, it looked like they were kind of figuring it out and then unraceful. They came out and went, oh, we've got this, and they made winning look easy.

You know, just struggled to get off the start line yesterday for the first three races, as you really impressed. In the first race, they had probably their worst start of the day and they were very quickly managed to crawl back and sell through the fleet and I think the first four in that first rate, so you know, straight away that sort of told me that they were were fast and they're obviously starting to run the race track pretty well with the with the decision making regarding the wind shifts and being in the right pockets of breeze and stuff. But yeah, for the for the other two races, they're just I think they're a little bit late with the setup getting into that sort of starting box. They'd always sort of liked to be one of the last roads to set up, and I guess in venues when the breeze is a little bit more consistent and there's you know, a couple of less boats and previous sort of seasons that that seemed to work, you know, s all right, but I think that's quite a high risk strategy and that last race yesterday they changed their approach a little bit, and they were a little bit early into the earlier into the start box, getting into a lineup, and they got off the line and in good shape and from there they just sailed away from everyone. So I think the reviews from last night from the team, so the d Reefs would have just been trying to focus on their stats, and if they can figure that out today and get off the line clean, I think they'll be just fine around the racetrack. They're definitely going going pretty quick out there.

You know, just struggled to get off the start line yesterday for the first three races, as you really impressed. In the first race, they had probably their worst start of the day and they were very quickly managed to crawl back and sell through the fleet and I think the first four in that first rate, so you know, straight away that sort of told me that they were were fast and they're obviously starting to run the race track pretty well with the with the decision making regarding the wind shifts and being in the right pockets of breeze and stuff. But yeah, for the for the other two races, they're just I think they're a little bit late with the setup getting into that sort of starting box. They'd always sort of liked to be one of the last roads to set up, and I guess in venues when the breeze is a little bit more consistent and there's you know, a couple of less boats and previous sort of seasons that that seemed to work, you know, s all right, but I think that's quite a high risk strategy and that last race yesterday they changed their approach a little bit, and they were a little bit early into the earlier into the start box, getting into a lineup, and they got off the line and in good shape and from there they just sailed away from everyone. So I think the reviews from last night from the team, so the d Reefs would have just been trying to focus on their stats, and if they can figure that out today and get off the line clean, I think they'll be just fine around the racetrack. They're definitely going going pretty quick out there.

We've seen some change to the design, there are some new foils. How much further do you think these boats can be pushed when it comes to sort of advancements.

We've seen some change to the design, there are some new foils. How much further do you think these boats can be pushed when it comes to sort of advancements.

Yeah, I mean that's another thing that's made the race quite exciting this week is all these teams to the first forget it foils. Some of them never even sailed with them before. They've been tested for a while now, but only by one or two other teams, So you know, the team's literally got the before at the start of the week when that's started sailing and they've been trying to figure it out. So that's been quite a good level playing field I think for everyone as they get better and figure out, you know how to set them up and what works better around the racetrack. I think that they'll get a lot more stable, and they'll probably sort of start having some higher speeds. But I think for now that makes the reaction pretty exciting. How far can you go from here? Well, I guess technologies are evolving pretty quickly these days. I'm sure they can keep pushing the envelope, but I guess put it into context, these new coilers have been the works for probably almost two years now. Certainly has been testing them for the last of six to eight months, so it's taken a whilesie at this point, and if you're going to make any to be changes like that, it does take a bit of time. So I certainly say these will be on the boats.

Yeah, I mean that's another thing that's made the race quite exciting this week is all these teams to the first forget it foils. Some of them never even sailed with them before. They've been tested for a while now, but only by one or two other teams, So you know, the team's literally got the before at the start of the week when that's started sailing and they've been trying to figure it out. So that's been quite a good level playing field I think for everyone as they get better and figure out, you know how to set them up and what works better around the racetrack. I think that they'll get a lot more stable, and they'll probably sort of start having some higher speeds. But I think for now that makes the reaction pretty exciting. How far can you go from here? Well, I guess technologies are evolving pretty quickly these days. I'm sure they can keep pushing the envelope, but I guess put it into context, these new coilers have been the works for probably almost two years now. Certainly has been testing them for the last of six to eight months, so it's taken a whilesie at this point, and if you're going to make any to be changes like that, it does take a bit of time. So I certainly say these will be on the boats.

For a bitch. Yeah, yeah, Hey, Chris, really random question. How do they get these boats from one destination to another?

For a bitch. Yeah, yeah, Hey, Chris, really random question. How do they get these boats from one destination to another?

Yeah? I had that actually question from PUC yesterday. They packed them all down into these forty foot shipping containers. Basically, so the boats are obviously fifty feet long, but the bows of the boats are removable, so they sort of take the twelve foot section out of the front that they peel into the containers, and then the hells roll in, and then the wingsail, the big solid wing that you see that they ultimately us here on the racetrack, that's actually three different sections. So then that breaks up and slides into a container as well, and then all the all the race marks and chase boats and all that sort of stuff is the same, and then they check it on a ship and they ship around the roo.

Yeah? I had that actually question from PUC yesterday. They packed them all down into these forty foot shipping containers. Basically, so the boats are obviously fifty feet long, but the bows of the boats are removable, so they sort of take the twelve foot section out of the front that they peel into the containers, and then the hells roll in, and then the wingsail, the big solid wing that you see that they ultimately us here on the racetrack, that's actually three different sections. So then that breaks up and slides into a container as well, and then all the all the race marks and chase boats and all that sort of stuff is the same, and then they check it on a ship and they ship around the roo.

There we go. Thank you, Chris, I appreciate that answer. It's really nice to talk to you. Enjoy your day to day.

There we go. Thank you, Chris, I appreciate that answer. It's really nice to talk to you. Enjoy your day to day.

For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen live Don't Us Talks. It'd be from nine am Sunday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio

For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen live Don't Us Talks. It'd be from nine am Sunday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio