Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling and skipper Glenn Ashby receive the "Auld Mug" trophy after winning the 2017 America's Cup. Photo/Getty Images
Emirates Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling and skipper Glenn Ashby receive the "Auld Mug" trophy after winning the 2017 America's Cup. Photo/Getty Images
The America's Cup is set to travel in style, reportedly flying first class in a special Louis Vuitton trunk to New Zealand.
The celebrations will continue this week when the Auld Mug returns to our shores after Team New Zealand won back the Cup in Bermuda on Tuesday.
The silverware,that stands 1.1m tall and weighs over 14kg, travels in a purpose-built Louis Vuitton trunk, in business or first class flanked by two security guards according to Yachting World.
The sailing magazine said security personnel have travelled with the Cup ever since 1997, when Maori activist Benjamin Nathan walked into the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and took to the sailing trophy with a sledgehammer.
Hayden Porter, general manager of Auckland's Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, where the Cup will be displayed in all its glory, said they would take the role of housing "the oldest trophy in international sport" very seriously.
"It goes into a specially built trophy cabinet, which is very secure. It's a fully alarmed, censored, bullet proof, bomb proof, you name it, cabinet," said Porter.
He said the extreme security measures were to avoid any issues or damage such as that sustained by the Cup in 1997.
"It's an amazing privilege. You've got the oldest sporting trophy in the world, in New Zealand and in our cabinet. It's the Everest of sailing," said Porter.
The America's Cup on its Louis Vuitton travel trunk. Photo/ACEA 2017/Ricardo Pinto
Porter said when Team New Zealand brought the Cup home from San Diego in 1995, it had its own seat on the plane, complete with a special seatbelt to fit around the carry trunk.
Team New Zealand also collected the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Challenger Playoffs trophy, which was presented for the first time this year.
The 70cm high, 10kg sterling silver trophy depicts a clash of passing sails. It also echoes Louis Vuitton's famous 'V' mark, drafted in the 1930s to encapsulate the brand's values of Volez, Voguez, Voyagez - fly, sail, travel.
Although the Yacht Squadron has not received the full official polishing instructions for the Auld Cup yet, they have been given some tips on how to keep the Louis Vuitton trophy - awarded to the winners of the America's Cup challenger series - sparkling clean.
"We have been informed, for the Louis Vuitton Cup, that we're not allowed to use any fluids on it and there is a special cloth that is provided for the polishing," Porter said.
Discussions are currently underway to arrange public viewings of the trophies, after Thursday's parade in Auckland.
New Zealand is one of only three countries outside of the US, including Australia and Switzerland, to win the Auld Mug.
