"Winch Helmets": Gimmick or technological advance?

Tuesday saw another complete domination of Emirates Team NZ over Luna Rossa. A combination of on-the-spot weather call, excellent tactics, perfect crew work and superior boat speed resulted in the New Zealanders winning their fourth consecutive race. They only need to win Wednesday's match point and carry the Louis Vuitton Cup trophy to Auckland.

We will obviously report in full on the race but in the meantime have a look at the first shots of the kiwi "winch helmets". In today's race they put them on approximately 6 minutes before the start. Gimmick or technological advance?

Winch helmet on NZL-92. Valencia, 5 June 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing