United States coach Mark Ivey says the American team is taking full advantage of being granted limited training time in Sydney ahead of official racing on Saturday.
The USA and Germany were the only two teams to granted precious on-water training time after official practice racing was cancelled due to forecasted thunderstorms.
Speaking at a pre-event press conference, Ivey said: “The nature of this league is to try and get as much time on the water at each new venue you get to - it’s restricted, so any additional time we get as a new team and squad is absolute gold for us.
“I’m sure all of the teams want to be out there just as much as our team wants to be out there.”
Reflecting on Abu Dhabi, which saw Taylor Canfield’s new-look USA team finish third overall after fighting for a first place finish, Ivey said the team is ‘full of hunger’.
“I don’t think you’re going to change the stripes on a tiger - when there’s a gut instinct and they see a move they’re going to go for it,” he said. “In those particular moments those are decisions [Canfield] is making on the fly right there.”
Reflecting on his position as coach, Ivey said his role is to ‘install belief and confidence so that we can play against all these teams’.
“There’s six people on the boat - sometimes just four - and it’s chemistry,” he added. “You can overcome a lot of things when you believe.”
The KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney takes place on February 24-25, with racing from 16:00 AEDT.
