AUCKLAND, New Zealand — With its resources, Oracle Team U.S.A., the defending champion, is the favorite for the 2017 America’s Cup, to be held in Bermuda in June. But Emirates Team New Zealand is, as usual, full of talent and creative thinkers, even on a tight budget.

“The Kiwis are the mystery boat at this stage,” said Ken Read, a former Cup helmsman turned television analyst. “But as usual, they will be really good and will be a front-runner because they know how to organize things with less than everybody else. I think they have proven that over the years.”

The Kiwis were the first to get their catamaran to hydrofoil ahead of the last Cup, in 2013 in San Francisco, although Oracle’s ability to foil upwind as well as downwind proved decisive during its comeback.

This time, the Kiwis have innovated again. When they unveiled their new Cup boat in Auckland on Feb. 16, they also revealed a secret: four stationary-bike grinding stations on each side of the 15-meter catamaran instead of the usual arm-powered pedestals. The idea? Pedal power creates the energy to work the control systems and maneuver the wing sail.