Los Gallos have booked their place in SailGP's Grand Final, and now the Spanish team intend to spend the long break before the season's last two events mining their performance data for every gain they can find, according to Nicole van der Velden.
The team secured their spot in the season-ending showdown with a win in Geneva, bouncing back after missing out on the Final on home waters in Valencia.
Strategist Van der Velden called qualifying a major milestone after a tough season. The team's attention, she said, has already shifted to arriving in Abu Dhabi in the best shape possible.
"It feels really good to secure that Grand Final spot. I think it's a big milestone for the team after a very hard-fought season," she said.
"Now it's about continuing to improve and focusing on what we need to."
Two Grands Prix remain, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, leaving Los Gallos with an unusually long gap before they're back on the water.
Van der Velden admitted it will feel odd to step away from the F50 after such a packed run of events. The team plans to lean on SailGP's shared data pool to keep working while off the racecourse.
"It's going to be strange to have almost a month and a half off after having so many events back-to-back," she said.
"With all the data we have in SailGP, we can also spend a lot of time analysing that. It's about trying to find the gains for the next events and preparing mentally as well."
Geneva was won in tricky light-air conditions, with the F50s running the larger 27.5m wing and carrying fewer crew onboard. For Van der Velden, marginal conditions like those remain the clearest area for the team to sharpen up before Abu Dhabi.
"It's quite hard to race in those marginal conditions, so we just need to keep chipping away and finding little gains in those conditions," she said.
Three Grand Prix wins this season have put Los Gallos among the form teams on the circuit, and Van der Velden isn't worried the layoff will undo that.
"I don't think we'll lose the momentum. Throughout the season we've really been working well as a team, both on the water and mentally, and I think we're in quite a good place with a clear idea of what we need," she said.
"I'm sure we'll prepare really well for what's to come."
