Challengers Team New Zealand and holders Oracle are all set to begin their battle for the America's Cup. Just four days out from the commencement of the match for the Auld Mug, Stuff takes a look at those charged with steering, controlling and powering the high-speed, high-tech catamarans.

Team New Zealand

Helmsman - Peter Burling: Identified as a talented sailor at a young age, the 26-year-old who started out at the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club has had an immensely successful career so far. Burling and Team NZ crew-mate Blair Tuke not only have Olympic Games gold and silver medals in the 49er class, the pair have won the last four world championships. They were named the world male sailors of the year in 2015, Burling winning the world moth class title and skippering New Zealand to victory in the inaugural Youth America's Cup in the same. With his crew-mates taking on some of the normal helmsman's responsibilities, Burling is free to keep his eyes up, make tactical decisions and steer the boat in the optimal direction.

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Skipper/wing trimmer - Glenn Ashby: At 39-years-old, the calm and affable Australian who owns his own sailmaking business brings invaluable experience to the Team NZ afterguard. Ashby has 15 world titles in multi-hull racing, a huge asset in an America's Cup raced in high-speed catamarans. He was also head-hunted by Oracle to take charge of their 2010 challenge which took the Cup from Alinghi. The only surviving crew member of New Zealand's unsuccessful 2013 challenge, Ashby is charged with trimming the huge and extremely technical wingsail, a highly-skilled role involving tweaking the sail to make the most of the wind on offer.

GETTY IMAGES Two-thirds of the Team NZ afterguard, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke celebrate their gold medal in the 49er class at the London Olympics in 2012.

Foil control/cycle grinding - Blair Tuke: A proud Northlander, the 27-year-old product of the Kerikeri Cruising Club won his first world title in 2006 in the splash class. Three years later he teamed-up with Burling and since claiming silver at the 2012 London Olympics, the under-stated duo have been almost unbeatable in the 49er skiff. Tuke has a duel role as part of the crew of the Team NZ cat. As well as helping provide power from the rear-most cycle grinding post, he is the man controlling the boat's high-tech pair of foils. Tuke uses buttons on the handlebars of his pedal-power station to ensure smooth and efficient foiling.



Cycle grinders - Andy Maloney: After narrowly missing out last year's Rio Olympic Games, the laser sailor from Auckland's Murray's Bay Club jumped at the opportunity at the end of last year to join Team NZ. Like the other cycle grinders who come from a sailing background, Maloney put on a significant amount of weight to place himself in contention to be one of three on-board whose sole job is to provide hydraulic power for the boat's many and varied control systems.



Josh Junior: Like Maloney, Junior comes from a competitive sailing background and is a regular in the three-pronged team of cyclors on Aotearoa. Hailing from Wellington's Worser Bay Sailing Club, the 27-year-old went to the Rio Olympics and placed seventh in the finn class.

Simon van Velthooven: A product of the Kiwi team's move to pedal power, the 28-year-old is one of two members of Team NZ who has an Olympic medal not from sailing. Van Velthooven is a former member of the highly successful NZ track cycling programme and picked up bronze in the keirin at the 2012 London Games. The Rhino, as he is known, kept his switch to sailing secret for many months before Team NZ eventually revealed the system in February this year.

Joe Sullivan: The 30-year-old from Picton is used to boats. And bikes for that matter. Sullivan did countless hours on both during a superb rowing career that is capped by gold in the double sculls at the 2012 London Olympics and a pair of world titles. He also joined Team NZ last year, accepting an invitation to trial having retired from rowing in 2014.

EMIRATES TEAM NZ Team New Zealand "cyclor" Simon van Velthooven wears a different sort of cycling helmet these days.

Guy Endean: Alongside crew-mates Burling, Tuke and Maloney, Endean was part of the New Zealand team which won the Youth America's Cup in 2013. Short and stocky, he is a specialist power source for light air sailing conditions. Endean shed more than 11kg on his journey to becoming a cycler.



Carlos Huisman: The Dutchman is the second of two athletes Team NZ often call on when the breeze is towards the lower end of the wind range. Husiman, 25, has been sailing since a young age and moved to New Zealand in 2015.



Oracle Team USA



Skipper/helmsman - Jimmy Spithill: The face and voice of the American syndicate who hold the America's Cup, the confident Australian is a match racing expert who has won multiple world titles. Spithill became the youngest helmsman in the regatta's history as a 19-year-old member of the Young Australia challenge in 1999, while he became the youngest skipper to win the Cup when Oracle claimed the Auld Mug in 2010. This is the Sydneysider's sixth Cup campaign and he heads the all-Australian afterguard on the US boat.

Tactician/sailing team manager - Tom Slingsby: Hailing from the Central Coast of New South Wales, the 33-year-old has compiled an impressive list of achievements. Slingsby has eight world titles, was the 2010 male world sailor of the year and collected gold in the laser class at the 2012 London Olympics. Oracle's successful 2013 defence was his first America's Cup and he was the first sailor re-signed by the American syndicate.

Wing trimmer - Kyle Langford: Although his resume doesn't quite match those of his partners in the Oracle afterguard, Langford has had no troubles with the step up to America's Cup level. A multihull gold medallist at the 2005 youth world champs, the 27-year-old honed his skills as a young sailor on Lake Macquarie in New South Wales. Langford took over as the wing trimmer for Oracle just days before their first race of the 2013 Cup and was the youngest athlete taking part in that regatta.



Grinders - Ky Hurst: Another of the nine Australians on the 14-strong Oracle sailing team, Hurst won 30 national lifesaving titles, seven national ironman crowns and competed as an open water swimmer at two Olympics before switching to sailing. The 36-year-old joined the crew of the US boat in 2015.

RICARDO PINTO/ACEA 2017 The all-Australian afterguard aboard Oracle, from left, Jimmy Spithill, Kyle Langford and Tom Slingsby.

Louis Sinclair: Sailing has been a way of life for a long time for the youngest member of the Oracle sailing team. Now 25, Sinclair was born in New Zealand but grew up on the Caribbean island of Antigua. He counts Kiwi sailing legend Sir Peter Blake as one of his heroes and has competed in two Sydney-Hobart races, where he was a team-mate of Spithill.

Kinley Fowler: Kiwi-born and Australian-raised, Fowler was initially part of the Oracle shore team before joining the sailing group before the last America's Cup in San Francisco. During that regatta, the 29-year-old gave the team humorous daily pep talks as they fought back from 8-1 down to win 9-8 and retain the Cup.

Sam Newton: A winner of both line and overall honours in the Sydney-Hobart race, Newton has won the world's premier 18-foot skiff championship on six occasions. Now 30, he grew up sailing on Sydney Harbour and has been with the US team for six years.