'Moment of truth' awaits British team

GBR Challenge (right) have had 'encouraging' results

GBR Challenge grinder Greg Searle talks to BBC Sport Online's Alex Trickett about progress in Britain's first America's Cup campaign for 15 years.

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I understand you've been injured, how did that come about?

We all live in a hotel which is about 10 minutes up a hill from the base where we do all of our sailing.

And at the end of each day, I like to cycle up the hill quite fast and use it as a little bit of training.

They told me the blood pouring out of my head was really nothing to worry about, and the problem was that I'd fractured my elbow

Greg Searle

In the middle of January, I was coming up the hill and I went to change a gear and my chain fell off and I hit the road.

I had a big cut in my head and scrapes on my knees and elbow.

They took me off in an ambulance and that night told me that the blood pouring out of my head was really nothing to worry about, and the problem was that I'd fractured my elbow.

They then decided to operate on me, put in some wires and pins, and apparently the surgeon did quite a good job of it.

That was several weeks ago and I now seem to be getting a fairly decent range of movement back.

I've just started back on the rowing machine.

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When do you expect to be training in full again?

Well it works out quite well.

We're heading back to England to prepare for our boat launch, so there is no immediate temptation for me to go grinding and I can concentrate on my rehabilitation instead.

We come back to New Zealand in June and I'd be very disappointed if I was not at full strength again by then.

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I guess the boat launch is the next big thing on the GBR Challenge schedule?

Yes, that's a huge thing for us really - to see how fast our new boat actually is, because, as I'm learning more and more in sailing, if you don't have a fast boat then you are in big trouble.

The big thing is to get the new boat, which is being launched on 12 April in Cowes.

The boat has been named Wight Lightning by a viewer from Blue Peter.

In June we'll put it in the water in New Zealand with the boats we've already got and hopefully discover that we've got a little rocket.

That's the big moment of truth.

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What have you learned about the other teams to this point?

Everything we do now with the old boats is suggesting to us that our teamwork and our boat handling is as good as anyone out there.

We've raced most of the good teams and come out fairly even, which, given that the boats we have aren't as fast as the boats they have, is encouraging.

We're pretty excited. We are working well as a group.

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And the mood?

The mood is still pretty positive and we're all pleased with the results.

But we know how much we have got to learn and how much faster we think we can still make the boat go.

We're competitive with these teams, but we still feel we are making a lot of mistakes.

We're also quite tired and ready for a break and looking forward to coming back to England, having been out here for nearly six months.