The countdown to the start of Britain's challenge to the America's Cup has begun with just two weeks to go before GBR Challenge goes into battle in the Louis Vuitton Challenger rounds. GBR crewman and Daily Echo columnist James Stagg describes the pressure on the team and assesses the opposition.

It is hard to believe that it is almost a year since I flew with my family to Auckland. What I thought would feel like a long time away from home has flown by.

The reality is that in two weeks' time the training will be over and the Louis Vuitton Cup will have started in earnest.

This is my first America's Cup experience and I have a mixed bag of views of the experience before the racing commences.

I really enjoy racing the boats - they are demanding in every aspect for each crew member and have to be sailed well at all times. There is little room for mistakes and the smallest one can easily have a knock-on effect, turning into a major issue or gear breakage.

And there is so much more to a team than the sailing, especially a newly-formed team. A happy medium of running the operation as a company and a team needs to be struck and, although our team may not be as large as others, it is still a new working environment for a large percentage of the GBR crew.

I have found this very different from the sailing I have done in the past with a small and often tight-knit crew. I have met new faces from different sailing backgrounds who have fresh approaches and ideas and are well motivated to achieve their personal goals.

On the other hand, I don't really have much time for the "off the water antics" based on perceived protocol breaches. Some individuals thrive on the issues that have arisen between teams in the last 12 months and are of the opinion that it is all part of the Cup, but it is not really my cup of tea.

As a sailor, I don't like to think of the time, man-hours and money that have been wasted by many teams on some trivial issues that will not affect how fast their boat goes. Of course the event needs rules, but it would be better if they were simple to understand and police.

All the challengers are now based in Auckland and more of the teams are either setting up in-house racing - or against other challenging teams.

These races are informal and therefore neither of the competing teams disclose the results. Yet all the teams keep a watchful eye on the encounters and the results - and no doubt time differences around the marks - are fairly common knowledge.

It is hard to know whether to read too much into these as you never know what each team is looking to learn from the race. Did they sand bag? Did they use their first-choice boat? What sails were they using?

It is a good way of checking in with the fellow challengers and, in GBRs case, we use these days as a complete logistics rehearsal for the entire organisation.

Our last phase of training has been tough with long days and, weather permitting, sailing every day. GBR 44 and 52 were great boats to get our challenge up and running, without them we would be a long way from where we are now, but there is nothing like time spent on the water in your Cup boat.

It sounds obvious, but the more time we put in testing ideas, the more we get from GBR 70. Some ideas work, some are put on hold and others we simply don't have time for.

GBR 78 will be launched later this week and that will become another tool to help us progress up the learning curve.

So, who is the favourite to race Team New Zealand? Right now, if I had to pick one, it would be Alinghi.

They look to be every bit the strong team you would expect and, baring any disasters, they will be fully on the pace. The only news from their camp is that Murray Jones has damaged his foot and may miss the first round robin.

GBR's initial goal is to qualify for the semi- finals but it is going to be tough. The Swedes, GBR Challenge, the French, Team Stars and Stripes and the second Italian entry, Mascalzone Latino, are not labelled as favourites but they will all be fighting hard to take every point and I'm sure there will be some upsets along the way.

James will be writing regularly and exclusively for the Daily Echo's sailing page throughout the America's Cup.