Team New Zealand's rising star

John Greenland talks with the Kiwi America's Cup team's Cameron Appleton

The team sailed consistently well throughout the regatta to finish a respectable second behind the Alinghi America's Cup team aboard South Australia, under the faithful hand of his old team-mate Russell Coutts, and ahead of John Bertrand, helming Australia II.

Before leaving the northern hemisphere, Appleton is making one final stopover in New York for the Knickerbocker Cup, one of the prestigious grade one match racing events on the circuit. "I'm trying to work my way up the rankings at the moment. We're currently lying at 32nd, although I have only competed in two events so far this year. It's just great to be able to race against Peter Gilmour, Magnus Holmberg and the like."

The short trip to New York will be followed by a rigorous seven months of testing, racing and tuning down in Auckland: "We won't be doing much outside of the team while we are working in Auckland, just focusing on the details ready for the new boat." This is where Team New Zealand have a slight advantage as they are able to spend an extra couple of months developing the new boat while the other nations battle it out for the privilege to challenge for the Auld Mug.