Walker awaits Wight Lightning

Walker's hopes are pinned on Wight Lightning

By Rob Hodgetts BBC Sport Online

GBR Challenge skipper Ian Walker will be on tenterhooks for the next couple of weeks as the team get ready to launch their new America's Cup boat on Auckland Harbour.

"Wight Lightning" was shipped from Cowes and is now having the keel and other gear put on while the team continue training in their older generation America's Cup boats.

But despite a gruelling programme in harsh weather conditions, Walker knows the real crunch will come when they put GBR 70 in the water and begin sea trials and speed tests.

"We are confident we can sail to a high standard but we need a fast boat just like a Formula One driver needs a fast car," Walker told BBC Sport Online.

"It doesn't just come, it's something you have to work at with continual fine-tuning just like an F1 car in testing.

  A typical day in the life of GBR Challenge

0600-0730: Gym

0730-0830: Breakfast

0830-0900: Morning meeting

0915-1000: Tow out to Hauraki Gulf

1000-1500: Sailing - equipment testing or boat handling

1600-1700: Boat hoisted out, de-rigging and cleaning

1700-1900: Maintenance and home

"But I've got a feeling we'll know pretty quickly whether the boat is inherently fast or not.

"There's only a certain amount we can fine-tune.

"If the new boat doesn't jump out of the water and show a significant turn of pace in the first few days against our old boats we know we're in for a very tough six months - or more to the point a very short event."

The Louis Vuitton Cup challengers' series for the right to race Team New Zealand in the America's Cup begins in Auckland in October.

And GBR Challenge are working flat out to have Britain's first entry for 14 years in competitive shape.

When the often howling New Zealand winter winds relent, the endless testing of sail configurations and crew work continues apace, with each five-hour day on the water dedicated to a certain goal.

A testing day involves straight-line sailing between two boats, evaluating different techniques, different sails, mast set-ups or boat trim.

One boat is left constant while the other is changed.

Prada are probably trialling their 16th mast over a six-year period, while we've just put in our first

Ian Walker

Crew work and boat handling days involve two boats sailing against each other to force specific tactical situations to hone tactical awareness and match-racing skills.

But with the introduction of Wight Lightning, the testing will become live.

Walker said: "With new boats, sea trials and structural tests are vital to make sure they do not break up and make sure they perform as they are designed to.

"We need to be 100% confident it won't break, so we have to push everything to its limit and often just a bit beyond.

"But we also need to learn how to get the best speed out of the boat and find out what configurations work best in different wind and wave conditions."

GBR Challenge - launched last year by millionaire businessman Peter Harrison - are playing catch-up to most of the big teams in the nine-strong Louis Vuitton Cup field.

Walker is skipper of the first British entry for 14 years

But the team are happy with their progress and are set to send their second new America's Cup Class boat, GBR 78, to Auckland to help with testing and provide a back-up should Wight Lightning break.

"The designers and builders have done a great job completing GBR78 so quickly and it will be a great boost to the team to have her out here for the start of racing," said Walker.

"We are still catching up in our mast and sail development programmes, but we're on the timescale we set ourselves and there are syndicates behind us."

Away from Auckland, several different teams within GBR Challenge have been honing their match-racing skills on the world circuit, with mixed results.

Andy Green's crew made the semi-finals at the Congressional Cup in America while Walker's team reached the quarter-finals in the Grade One event at Lake Constance.

Elsewhere, Andy Beadsworth made the quarter-finals in Croatia before finishing third in Trieste in Italy.

"I wouldn't say I'm happy because we're not winning but we are seeing a marked improvement which is heartening," said Walker.