Stress levels for the absentee America’s Cup Challenger Emirates Team New Zealand clicked up another notch this week.

On Wednesday their fellow challengers and defender Oracle Team USA took to the Great Sound for the first of five days of match racing practice. This is the first of seven new practice periods. That left the “lone wolf” Kiwi boat racing against her own shadow down under.

Matching the defender against challengers could dispel the mystery of traditional America’s Cup competition … Who has the speed? Until now challengers and defenders have not raced until the actual Match for the Cup.

Team New Zealand posted on Facebook: “America’s Cup boats lining up already? Until this week it was prohibited by the protocol, but now allowed after yet another rule change. Working together to protect their future AC framework agreement?” referring to the five-team agreement for future competition in the ACC catamarans, which New Zealand opposes.

Until now the 2017 America’s Cup Protocol — the document of agreement between the Defender, Golden Gate Yacht Club, and representatives of the five Challengers — did not allow for boat-to-boat practice in the AC Class 50-footers in 2017. But the majority rules. According to the amendment posted on the event notice board, four Challengers, the ones training in Bermuda, voted to change the rules.

The original rules had stipulated that practice period’s dates must be published one year in advance of the first scheduled race. With Defender Team USA supporting the amendment, it was brought forward.

New Zealand continue to train alone in Auckland. They are air-freighting their contender to Bermuda on April 11.

“Protocol changes require the Defender and the Challenger Commission to agree,” reports Jack Griffin of Cup Experience. “The Challenger Commission uses majority rule to reach decisions … a majority of them voted for this change.

“With Emirates Team New Zealand choosing to train in Auckland through March, they have no interest in the other teams getting quality training time. Until this week it was prohibited by the protocol.

“Since the other five teams have only launched their AC Class race boats within the past month, we suspect there is so much uncertainty that they all voted for the change. And as the Kiwis note, there is interest within this group to insure one of them wins … and the Kiwis lose.”