Team New Zealand strategist Ben Ainslie says he wants to develop his ability to steer an America's Cup yacht, but denies his aim is to take skipper Dean Barker's job.

The Briton, a double Olympic champion in different dinghy classes (earlier this year, in Athens, he won gold in the heavier Finn class.

In the same event, Barker finished 13th), is part of an international afterguard hired by the syndicate as it prepares to challenge for the Auld Mug in 2007.

As the syndicate moves back to Auckland for training over the summer, he said his goal in the coming months was to develop his steering skills.

"The hard part of this for me is when people try to build this up as me trying to take Dean Barker's job, which is clearly not the case," he said. "The whole team is based around him being the helmsman and the skipper."

Ainslie said what he wanted to do was to learn and to be good enough to be the person to push Barker, so the Aucklander could be the best on the water when racing began.