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Sailing world reacts to first footage of foiling monohull testing for America’s Cup

Sir Ben Ainslie's Team UK are the first to launch a prototype but the Kiwis are taking a different tack.

We've seen it on the computer but now there's actual video of an America's Cup prototype sailing on the water.

Sir Ben Ainslie's Team UK are the first sailing syndicate to launch a foiling monohull but that doesn't necessarily mean they're leading the charge to the next Cup.

In a short clip of the 28-foot boat, it appears to glide along the water in a stable condition until the very end.

Kiwi sailor Blair Tuke, who today confirmed alongside Olympic partner Peter Burling he would be part of Team New Zealand’s defence in 2021, says it’s great to see the boat in action.

The Kiwi sailing heroes said they wanted to be sure they could give their all in both events before committing.

"There's been a lot on paper or on the computers," he said.

"To see it actually sailing is exciting for the Cup."

Experts say while the Kiwis have a proven computer system for testing designs, other syndicates are starting from scratch.

"If they're seeing quite different results on the water from what they saw on the computer then they've got a bit of a problem," Sail-World.com NZ editor Richard Gladwell said.

"They've basically got to get their computer system up to speed so they can replicate them and they can have confidence in what they're seeing."

Sir Ben's team has plenty of cash to throw at prototypes but Gladwell believes that can sometimes be a distraction.

"If you've got a lot of money you tend to go out and buy a lot of toys," he said.

"Then you've got to look at where those are getting you to in the grand scheme of things."

"With the America's Cup, the thing you always run out of is time."

Team NZ is instead working on having an AC75 ready to launch in eight months.

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