35th America's Cup, Glenn Ashby re-signs with Team New Zealand

From the following article on Sail-World submitted by Richard Gladwell:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Ashby-announces-2017-Cup-intentions-at-Sail-Melbourne/117269

Emirates Team New Zealand's wingsail trimmer, Glenn Ashby (AUS) has announced that he will be staying with the New Zealand team for the next America's Cup.

The multiple world champion and Olympic Silver medalist was part of a four person, all Australian panel appearing at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

The four, Iain Jensen and Nathan Outteridge (Artemis), Ashby (Emirates Team NZ) and Tom Slingsby (Oracle Team USA) spent an hour in front of 290 guests discussing their Olympic and sailing achievements, and thoughts on the 34th and 35 America's Cup.

The event was a sell-out with a waiting list of over 200 would be guests missing out on the function.

Ashby disclosed that he had been approached by the Iain Murray led Team Australia, but that was too late, as he had already signed with Emirates Team NZ at that point.

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Sail Racing Magazine talk to Glenn Ashby wing trimmer about the nosedive in Race 2 of the Louis Vuitton Cup

From the following entry on the excellent Sail Racing Magazine

http://www.sailracingmagazine.com/editors-blog/glenn-ashby-explains-the-emirates-team-new-zealand-nosedive

The most heart stopping moment of the 34th America's Cup action so far was the huge bear way crash which saw the Emirates Team New Zealand AC72 nosedive at the windward mark race two. (In case you have been living up a mountain with no internet or left the planet temporarily in the last few days the video clip is at the end of this article).

So what exactly went wrong on the Kiwi boat to trigger such a spectacular nose dive that it thew the majority of the crew into a tangled heap and flicked two of them unceremoniously into San Francisco Bay.

To find out from one who would know for sure, we got Emirates Team New Zealand wing trimmer Glenn Ashby to talk us through it.

First we asked Glenn to explain what he is doing to the massive wing sail when the boat goes around the windward mark.

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And a video of the nosedive:

America's Cup update, Glenn Ashby takes a turn at helming Emirates Team New Zealand AC72 catamaran while Dean Barker has a break

From the following article submitted to Sail-World by Bob Fisher:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Louis-Vuitton-Cup:-Cheap-point-for-new-helmsman/112531

For the first time in the Louis Vuitton Cup races for six years, Dean Barker was absent from the wheel of Emirates Team New Zealand, and his place as helmsman was taken by Glenn Ashby, normally the wing trimmer.

Ashby’s credentials for the job are more than sufficient, having won 14 world championships in three multihull classes and ten Australian A-class catamaran championships.

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America's Cup update, Glenn Ashby of ETNZ on his job of wing trimmer

From the following Sail-World article:

http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Americas-Cup:-Confessions-of-a-Wingman/107542

Glenn Ashby describes his job as wing trimmer on Emirates Team NZ's AC72 as a bit like driving a truck.

The multiple A-Cat world champion, Olympic Silver medalist, and former Tornado cat world champion, is talking a really big truck with a 32-speed gearbox as it traveling up and down a series of hills and turns.
The driver, he says, must always think ahead, two or three moves ahead. And that’s what he does on board the AC72.

Glenn’s changing gears (adjusting the wing trim) almost constantly. Either driving a truck and trimming the wingsheet, or with the hydraulics, so there’s never a time when he’s not thinking, looking for the breeze ahead and changes in wind patterns – thinking about the next gear change to achieve best performance.

The wing is set up differently for different modes – upwind a low fast mode or high, slower mode for instance. Racing downwind, the wing set up has a huge influence on the boat’s performance and must be used accurately with the front sails, making for dozens of small adjustments throughout the leg.

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