Main Page | Newsletter | Sailing calendar | America's Cup | Glossary

Team NZ starts boat construction

Cookson Boats built Team New Zealand's winning 2000 yachts

AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Construction is set to begin on the latest Team New Zealand boat to defend the America's Cup.

Tom Schnackenberg, head of Team New Zealand, said Cookson Boats had been given the first set of lines and specifications for building a mould for the first of two new 2003 generation America's Cup yachts.

The first boat will be delivered in mid-July when it will be fitted with deck hardware and appendages to prepare the boat for launching in August or September, Schnakenberg said.

RESOURCES America's Cup team profiles    YOUR SAY E-mail us with your views  on the world of sailing   MORE STORIES • Full marks to GBR  • OneWorld defeats TNZ  • Design row hits America's Cup

Work on the second boat would probably begin four to six weeks after the first .

Schnackenberg has just returned from the UK where tank-testing of models for the new boat design has been conducted.

Auckland-based Cookson Boats built the two Team New Zealand defender yachts for the 2000 Americas Cup NZL57 and NZL6O.

Team New Zealand will be issued a International America's Cup Class number after the mould is measured and checked that it is within the rules by the Cup's official measurer, Ken McAlpine.

Five of the nine challengers have already launched new generation boats ahead of the Louis Vuitton Cup starting in October.

Team New Zealand will defend the cup against the Louis Vuitton Cup winner in February.

Team New Zealand has training in Auckland with their 2000 boats, NZL 57 and NZL 60, since about October 2001.

Both boats were hidden behind curtains when not in the water . Schnackenberg said they had undergone some modifications but would not reveal details.

Meanwhile Dean Barker is in Long Bay, California competing in the Congressional Cup, the fifth event in the Swedish Match Tour, where he's competing against many of the America's Cup challenger skippers. (Read more)