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XXXIe America's Cup 
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Main Facts
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Internet
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Site officiel |
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Yacht
Club
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Royal
NZYS
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Country
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NZL
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Budget
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$80 Million
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Challenge
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26
June, 2004
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ACC
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2002
: NZL 81 & 82,
GER 68
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Syndicate
Head
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Grant
Dalton
(NZL)
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Design
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Andy
Claughton
(GBR)
Giovanni Belgrano*
(ITA)
Marcelino Botin*
(ESP)
T. Schnackenberg
(NZL)
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Skipper/
Helmsman
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Dean
Barker
(NZL)
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Afterguard
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Ray Davies
(NZL)
Ben Ainslie*
(GBR)
Adam Beashel
(AUS)
Kevin Hall*
(USA)
Kelvin Harrap*
(NZL)
Terry Hutchinson*
(USA)
Rod Davis*
(NZL).
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Sponsors
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Emirates
Toyota
Gvt kiwi
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* New Team Member
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NZL 81 arrives
in Valencia (09/24/04)
(source
: America's Cup)
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The second Emirates Team New Zealand race boat,
NZL 81, arrives in Valencia early in the afternoon on
Friday after a long trip from Auckland, New Zealand.
The boat is a replacement for NZL 82, which was seriously
damaged in a storm in Marseille after Act 1.
Emirates Team New Zealand is now on track to race in
Act 2, beginning on the 5th of October. The boat still
needs some work before it can be sailed; all of the
electronics, hydraulics, and winches must be installed.
The keel, bulb and rigging have to be attached, and
the boat must be tuned. But Dalton is confident they'll
be ready to race.
"We're extremely pleased to be in Valencia",
Dalton said on Friday afternoon from New Zealand. "We're
not ready yet. We've got five days to complete the boat
and get on the water as we want to sail on the 1st of
October".
"The entire shore crew is in Valencia now; we'll
have 15 guys working to do whatever it takes until the
boat is complete, and ready to sail". |
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Team NZ
afterguard to debut in Valencia (09/21/04)
(source
: NZ Herald)
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Team New Zealand finished third behind Oracle and
Alinghi in the opening regatta in Marseille. They were
without British Olympic Finn gold medallist Ben Ainslie
and American Terry Hutchinson, who will join the team
in Valencia.
"Having observed the opposition in Marseille from close
quarters, I am convinced that an effective afterguard
will be a major factor in success at this America's
Cup," said Team New Zealand's managing director Grant
Dalton.
"We are very keen to get Ainslie and Hutchinson on the
water with Dean Barker and the others in an uncompromisingly
competitive environment and Valencia is the only opportunity
we have this year".
"At Marseille we started the process of rebuilding the
sailing team and assessing NZL82's performance against
Alinghi and Oracle. We achieved 80 per cent of our objectives."
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Team New
Zealand fly NZL81 to Valencia (09/20/04)
(sources
: America's Cup
& Chris Cameron)
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Emirates Team New Zealand will race in the Valencia
Louis Vuitton Acts 2 and 3 of the 32nd America’s Cup.
The participation of the team was confirmed today with
the decision to fly NZL-81 from Auckland to Valencia,
Spain to replace NZL-82, which suffered severe structural
damage after Act 1 in Marseille.
After a strong third place performance in the opening
act of the 32nd America’s Cup in Marseille early in
September, Emirates Team New Zealand suffered a similar
fate to Team Alinghi and the BMW Oracle Racing team,
when it was blown over by a violent storm in Marseille.
All three boats suffered significant damage, but while
the other two teams each have a second race yacht in
Spain, Emirates Team New Zealand’s second boat was 26
000 miles away, in Auckland, New Zealand.
"After the storm in Marseille, we were all very
concerned that Emirates Team New Zealand might not be
able to race here in Valencia", said Michel Bonnefous,
the CEO of AC Management. "All along, we’ve said
that we would do whatever we could to help them, and
we are extremely pleased to hear that NZL-81 will be
on the starting line for the first race in Valencia".
"With Emirates Team New Zealand ready to race,
and the two additional Italian teams making a total
of eight, we expect the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts
to be even more exciting than Marseille".
Following a week of meeting and overcoming logistical
hurdles, Emirates Team New Zealand confirmed that NZL-81
was loaded into a British built Short Belfast turbo-prop
cargo aircraft operated by Heavy Lift Cargo Airlines
late on Monday night in Auckland, New Zealand (Pictures there).
The aircraft was scheduled to take off at 05:20 on Tuesday
morning in Auckland.
"At times it looked like the team would not be
able to compete in Acts 2 and 3 of America’s Cup 2007,"
said Grant Dalton, the Managing Director of Emirates
Team New Zealand. "Without the assistance of America’s
Cup Management (ACM) this would have been the case.
Our team is fortunate to have the support and confidence
of people, organisations and sponsors willing to assist
when needed."
But arranging the flight was just the first of several
issues that had to be resolved according to Dalton.
"Due to the yacht’s size, we anticipated that it
would be difficult to load into the aircraft. It’s an
extremely tight fit – there was only a 20mm margin on
top and 100 mm in length – and the loading operation
took 4.5 hours," Dalton explained.
"Our engineers did computer modelling based on
NZL-81’s exact dimensions and those of the aircraft’s
cargo hold. They were always confident of success, but
I was on edge until they actually closed and locked
the aircraft’s doors."
Ten Short Belfast aircraft were built for the Royal
Air Force in the 1960s and most were retired in the
late 1970s. Heavy Lift Airlines have maintained several
for specific cargo missions.
NZL-81 is expected to arrive in Valencia late on Friday,
after five fuel stops in Darwin, Singapore, Colombo,
Dubai and Malta.
Grant Dalton said shore crew had worked long hours during
the week in anticipation of the decision to fly. The
yacht has been painted in its new livery but is not
yet race ready. The shore crew will have to fit the
keel, install electrical, electronic and hydraulic systems,
winches and other deck hardware before the boat can
sail.
The team will fly boatbuilders and specialists to Valencia
tomorrow to meet the aircraft and ensure the yacht is
race ready on schedule. Dalton says the shore team estimates
that five days will be needed in Valencia to get the
yacht ready to sail. NZL-81 is expected to be sailing
on October 1, four days before the regatta starts. |
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Team NZ portrayed itself
as an outsider (09/02/04)
(sources : OneSport
& Stuff.co.nz)
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Team New Zealand are counting themselves among
the underdogs for the first official pre-America's
Cup yachting regatta beginning in southern France
this weekend.
"Our crew for Marseille has never sailed together
as a unit.", said Team New Zealand managing director
Grant Dalton "They're fired up and anxious to
get NZL82 on the water and race and they will be looking
for a good performance".
Dalton says following Team NZ's disastrous 2003 campaign,
the team are keen to put in a strong performance at
the regatta and demonstrate the work that has been
put in over the past 18 months.
"There's a lot of pressure on the boys, especially
in New Zealand, to lay the ghosts of the 2003 regatta
to rest. We're determined to do that, but I don't
expect us to achieve that at Marseille, or Valencia
for that matter."We have come a long way since
March 1, 2003. I'm looking for a credible performance
from the team to set the tone for the build-up to
2007."
But Team NZ will be facing come stiff competition
in France, with Oracle and Alinghi favourites for
the regatta. Dalton says Oracle especially are looking
very strong.
"Oracle, in particular, has put in a lot of time
on the water over the past 12 months and developed
their boats significantly."
Team NZ does not start work full time in Auckland
until December when the summer testing programme starts.
"That's the real start of the challenge for 2007.
In the past 12 months we have recruited the team,
done the planning and put the bulk of the funding
in place," says Dalton.
"We have been through a brutal review process
that has given us answers to the questions that were
on everyone's mind in March last year. We have rebuilt
the team to the point that it has the potential to
return the America's Cup to Auckland in 2007."
The team has been significantly strengthened in terms
of experience, skill and flair in the afterguard.
"The (sailing) team is looking very strong on
paper. Our job over the next three years is to develop
this bunch of talented and experienced individuals
into a potent match-racing team."
Dalton said."There are some very familiar names
and some new to the team. We cast the net wide to
revitalise, strengthen and enhance the design team."
For Team New Zealand, the regatta would be a chance
to begin a testing program that would continue in
the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland over the summer.
"We are really keen to measure our performance
against the opposition as a means of establishing
some base benchmarks for the future", Dalton
said.
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NZL 82 and FRA 57 expected
in Marseille (08/10/04)
(source : France
3)
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Team New Zealand's NZL82 and 57 were shipped together
to Europe and are planned to arrive on August 17 in
La Spezia (Italy).
From Italy, the two boats will be loaded on board a
new boat to Marseille were they are expected on August
25.
The yachts will compete in America's Cup 2007 pre-regattas.
The first under kiwi colors, the second has been sold
to the French K Challenge syndicate.
NZL60, the yacht that beat Prada 5-0 in the America's
Cup match, was leased to the K Challenge and will be
shipped later. |
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