Ahh...I meant to bring up NZ hydraulics earlier too. I hope we get a full technical breakdown of the boats at some point but I doubt we'll ever be left with more than our own conjecture based on some limited guesswork.

NZ should have more capacity to generate hydraulic pressure with their pedaling stations vs. the hand crank grinding stations. However, we have seen them have hydraulic power limitations at least as much as the other teams...which means, either they're not generating more power with the biking stations or they're using more hydraulic power than the average team. Given that they've even elected for a push-button hydraulic mainsheet system over the hydraulic powered drum winch, they probably elected to have more hydraulic controls throughout their wing than the others...and knowing that this was on the table, went with the bike stations so they could have a chance to keep up with that hydraulic demand. I think Ashby has more detailed control of the wing than other teams and that it consumes a good deal of hydraulic power....or, possibly, their ride height system moves more giving them better control on their side grip upwind while consuming more stored energy.

Man, what I would give for an hour alone with either boat with the wing skin off and hatches open ;-).