Team NZ starts building process for new boats

Team New Zealand are ready to begin constructing their first new boat to defend yachting's America's Cup.

Syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg said today North Shore boatbuilders Cookson Boats had been given the first set of lines and specifications for the yacht, one of two that will be built for Team NZ.

The first boat would be completed about mid-July and then taken to Team NZ's base at the Viaduct Basin for the fitting of deck hardware and appendages.

The boat would be launched in August or September, Schnackenberg said.

While the Louis Vuitton Cup to find the challenger for the America's Cup starts in October, the America's Cup races against Team New Zealand do not begin until February next year.

Schnackenberg said Team New Zealand's designers had given Cookson Boats a set of lines for building a mould for the new yacht's hull. Cookson Boats had given Team NZ a schedule for the next few months outlining when extra specifications would be needed.

The mould would be completed in two or three weeks, and Team NZ would apply for a sail number from the Cup's official measurer Ken McAlpine next month.

McAlpine registers the lines and checks the specifications of each boat built to ensure syndicates keep to rules which stipulate they can only build two new boats for the Cup.

Schnackenberg said work would probably begin on Team NZ's second boat four to six weeks after the first one, although that timing had not been finalised.

Schnackenberg this week returned from the latest round of tank-testing of models in England, while skipper Dean Barker is in the United States with a match-racing crew contesting the Congressional Cup.

Schackenberg said over the winter months Team NZ would continue to train on the boats from the last campaign, NZL57 and NZL60, with some sailors also racing in regattas overseas.

Both old boats remain hidden by hull-length skirts as they are put in and taken out of the water for training, and while Schackenberg confirmed they had undergone some modifications since NZL60 was used to retain the Cup in 2000, he would not reveal any details.

"They're good platforms for testing.

"We're in a very good position because the old boats are good boats. We have a few more options."

Schnackenberg said while some of the boats already launched by challenging syndicates had similarities to NZL60, such as having knuckle bows, he would not say any was "very" similar.

"They look like they're from the same family."

- NZPA