Glenn Ashby, the Emirates Team New Zealand skipper, believes that his team’s radical pedal-powered America’s Cup boat has given them an edge over their rivals.

The most visible feature on the Kiwis’ 50-foot foiling catamaran — that was officially launched and christened “New Zealand” in Auckland this month — are the four cycling pedestals in each hull used to power the hydraulic systems throughout the boat that have replaced the conventional arm-powered grinding stations.

“It’s been a massive learning curve but the guys have been magnificent and I just hope from here on we can tune it to a stage where we are going to be competitive in Bermuda,” Ashby said.

The theory is that legs provide more power than arms and that theory, it seems, is being put to practice successfully.

“When we sat down to think about the overall design of this boat three years ago the benefits of cycling opposed to regular grinding were obvious, but certainly not without issues and difficulty with functionality, and this is what we have been working incredibly hard on overcoming for the past three years,” Dan Bernasconi, the Team New Zealand design coordinator, said.

“Winning the next America’s Cup is all about maintaining a stable flight on the entire racecourse and that’s the reason why this boat contains some of the most innovative and powerful technology ever used in this competition in its systems, electronics, hydraulics and foil designs.”

Much has been said of the Kiwis’ innovative power source which is powered by “cyclors”, who have undergone an intense physical training programme transitioning their bodies from an upper body, chest and arms-focused programme to all legs.

“We started the cycling training over a year and a half ago,” Hubert Woroniecki, the team trainer, said. “At the beginning it was a challenge balancing the physical demands of grinding regularly on our first test boat while simultaneously turning the team into cyclists.

“Now the guys cycle daily, over a range of durations and intensities, along with other types of training. In some key sessions they will push themselves to their absolute physical limits on the bikes.”

While the Kiwis’ boat continues sea trials in Auckland, the team have sent a small group of members to Bermuda to construct their base located in the America’s Cup Village at the Royal Naval Dockyard.

“It has been a demanding couple of weeks for everyone involved in the base construction here in Bermuda,” said Andy Nottage, the Emirates Team New Zealand logistic and base manager. “The stormy weather hasn’t helped and the guys have battled on through the rain and relentless winds to erect the crane and get the administration tent erected.

“Life isn’t easy without utilities yet but we are not letting it halt progress with our own water tanks and a small generator that is working flat out around the clock. One of the best aspects of doing our job up here has been the support of the Bermudian locals who continue to go out of their way to help us everyday.”

Team New Zealand will remain in Auckland for another month before transferring to Bermuda for the final build-up to the America’s Cup qualifying series, which starts on May 26.