By Suzanne McFadden
The Hawaiians want to leave a legacy from their America's Cup campaign when they depart Auckland - and it's nothing that will upset the Customs agents.
John Kolius' Aloha Racing team want to paint the town aquamarine, white and blue so that they will be remembered when their sailing
stint is over.
Their plan is for internationally-renowned marine artist Wyland to paint a "whaling wall" somewhere around the city waterfront.
Wyland, who lives on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, has decorated the hulls of Aloha's Abracadabra 2000 yachts for the cup with dolphins, swordfish, whales and turtles.
Before that, he painted 82 walls around the world, all in the name of marine conservation. His goal is to paint 100 walls - and hulls - before the year 2011.
Wyland will donate his time free to paint the Auckland wall. But Aloha Racing spokeswoman Daisy Jean Cathcart said the owner of the building usually has to find the money to pay for the paint.
"It would be great to leave a legacy once we've gone," she said. "It would fit in nicely with Sir Peter Blake's role with the Jacques Cousteau project."
Aloha Racing have approached the Auckland City Council for the use of a wall downtown.
Enterprise Auckland manager Ray Schofield said yesterday that a number of spots had been suggested, with the best canvas the Downtown carpark building near the Viaduct Basin.
"We're quite happy to make a space available for them, but we won't be paying for it," he said.
Kolius says Wyland had played a major role in the Abracadabra campaign.
"Parts of this cup campaign - like raising money - are beyond hell. But others - like working with Wyland and getting to know the guy - are beyond fun. He's done so much for this project he's been an inspiration."
