By Suzanne McFadden
It is getting a little tight inside the big black shed in Syndicate Row.
But Team New Zealand have managed to find space to squeeze in just one more boat - the new Black Magic II.
This morning, NZL60 will nose out of Cookson's Boatyard in Glenfield for the first
time and head over the Auckland Harbour Bridge to the America's Cup village.
The second of Team New Zealand's generation 2000 defence boats, NZL60 will join sister ship NZL57 and the veteran NZL32 in their village compound.
Team New Zealand hope Black Magic II will make a quiet - and hopefully uneventful - entry into the world, avoiding a repeat of the dramatic travels of the first new boat.
Remember how NZL57 made its arrival?
Stuck in the mud outside the boatyard for hours before almost being banned from crossing the Harbour Bridge, and then tangling with a tree outside the Team New Zealand base.
Team New Zealand will go to great lengths to ensure the truck and her load do not get bogged down again.
Crewman Jeremy Scantlebury, who has overseen the construction of both boats, said NZL60's progress was quick and smooth.
"It's always easier when you do it a second time," he said.
"It's on schedule - I've never built a boat yet that's been ahead of schedule."
The new boat will be finished off in the Team New Zealand shed, as NZL57 was, and all three boats could be out on the Hauraki Gulf together in less than three weeks.
There are no problems finding enough hands to work on the new deck.
"Our organisation is big enough to sail both boats [57 and 32] and still have enough guys to work on the new boat in the shed," Scantlebury said.
"We are rotating guys on and off the shore.
"It won't be long before this boat is sailing."
Scantlebury described the latest defender boat as "vastly different" from her sister. But that could well be a bit of gamesmanship.
In the meantime, NZL57 will continue to trial alongside the 1995 Cup winner.
"We lost a few days last week through light airs and only lost one day because of breeze," Scantlebury said.
"The winds have been incredibly mild."
