Ainslie will skipper Team NZ in the final warm-up regatta

The double Olympic champion will steer the boat in place of first-choice helmsman Dean Barker.

The event will decide the seedings for the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series, which starts on 16 April.

"I'm helming our race boat this week and I'll support Dean in the Louis Vuitton Cup," Ainslie told BBC Sport.

"That's just the way it is but for me this campaign is very much a learning experience, and I'd like to think I've learned a lot, which means in future I can be in Dean's position."

Ainslie joined Team New Zealand after winning Olympic gold in the single-handed Finn class in Athens. He also won the one-man Laser class in Sydney and took silver in Atlanta in 1996.

"It's about having people available to step in if there's any sort of illness or injury on the boat," said Barker.

"Ben has been a key part of this team all the way through and if for whatever reason I'm not on the boat in the Louis Vuitton Cup, Ben needs to be ready to go in and do his best to help the team."

This week's "Act 13" will consist of fleet racing and will decide the final seedings for the 11 teams going into the head-to-head match-racing format of the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The winners of that will take on holders Alinghi in the America's Cup proper which runs from 23 June to 7 July.

Swiss outfit Alinghi won the America's Cup from Team New Zealand in Auckland in 2003.