Team
New Zealand's secret weapons revealed (01/07/03) (source
: Louis
Vuitton)
On perhaps the most exciting unveiling day since
a victorious Australia II revealed its wing-keel in
1983, Team New Zealand showed the result of three years
of design work and effort in the public ‘Unveiling’
ceremony on Tuesday.
Team New Zealand followed the Challenger unveilings
and stole the show when both of its declared boats,
NZL-81 and NZL-82 were slowly raised out of the water
to a cheering crowd.
It was the first public showing of what had been dubbed
the ‘Kiwi Clip-On’, an elegant appendage incorporated
into the hull design that has the effect of lengthening
the boat without a rating penalty.
Team New Zealand syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg quickly
corrected the name for the appendage, telling the assembled
media that his team called it the ‘Hula’ – an abbreviation
of ‘hull appendage’.
He said the false hull had the effect of tricking the
water into thinking the boat was longer than it was,
giving it greater speed.
Schnackenberg said it was impossible to judge the importance
of the New Zealand design innovation until after the
Cup match had been sailed. If New Zealand retained the
Cup, the double hull might be regarded as a design milestone,
he said.
On both New Zealand boats the ‘hula’ is an appendage
that is separated from the rest of the hull by just
a few millimetres. It begins about a metre behind the
keel, and runs back behind the rudder, effectively adding
length and volume to the aft section of the boat.
Designer Clay Oliver went on to say the ‘hula’ was an
integral part of the boat’s design. "The idea starts
with the concept that you want to draw a boat that is
long, elegant and fast," Oliver explained. "It’s
not a matter of adding something to a boat that you
already envisioned. It’s actually imagining a boat that
you want to have and saying how can we get that shape?
This is a solution to that. It’s not a clip-on. It’s
a hull that’s been drawn the way we want it and that’s
the solution."
The unveiling also revealed that the Hula is not simply
an add-on to a conventional hull. The design and construction
of the yacht has clearly been planned from the outset
to accommodate the bustle.
Clay Oliver, who shared Chief Design duties with Mike
Drummond, said: "It is not simply a matter of adding
something. It is a matter of imagining the shape you
want and then coming up with a solution to achieve it.
It is not a clip-on."
He said resolving all the issues surrounding the Hula
had taken a long process involving computer analysis,
tank testing and full scale testing. In search of a
low transom and a long, elegant shape, Oliver said the
design team had been striving for yachts that were beautiful
and fast.
While the Hula stole the show, the unveiling also revealed
that Team New Zealand is investigating a different path
with its keel programme. NZL-81 had a moderate bulb,
but NZL-82 was sporting a very long, flat-bottomed bulb,
about 7m. The winglets extend virtually to the full
width of the hull and attach at the bottom of the bulb
in line with the tapered fin.
"Our bulb is very long and smaller in height which means
a lower centre of gravity and therefore more stability.
The trade-off is extra wetted surface and extra drag
in light airs," explained Drummond. "We've investigated
them everywhere and this is our last known position"
.
Team New Zealand's development of the double hull is
seen by some teams and designers as a circumvention
of the intent of the America's Cup Class rule, which
prohibits hollows or irregularities in a boat's hull
shape. The defender won the approval of Cup measurers
for the development by having it classified as an appendage,
an addition to the hull itself. To qualify as an appendage,
the false hull cannot touch the actual hull at any point
other than the point at which it is attached.
Officials for both Alinghi and Oracle submitted questions
over the Team New Zealand hull design with the Cup's
international jury but Team New Zealand expressed confidence
it had met those demands and that no aspect of the appendage
could be contested by its rivals.
"It was our obligation to satisfy the measurers that
it doesn't touch the hull and we've done that," said
New Zealand design co-ordinator Tom Schnackenberg. "There
is nothing for anyone to protest."
TNZ
have chosen to unveil NZL 81 and 82 (01/06/03) (source
: NZ
Herald)
As the two remaining Challengers in the Louis Vuitton
Cup have elected to sail the same boats they’ve used
all along, Team New Zealand has kept its options open
by opting not to declare a boat at this time. As widely
expected ...
That means both Team New Zealand boats NZL81 and NZL82
are subject to the ‘no-change’ period beginning on the
7th of January - whatever keels, rudders and other appendages
are uncovered and signed off by the America's Cup measurer,
must be kept on the Team New Zealand boats for the next
10 days.
Potentially "huge" modifications could be made by the
victorious challenger and Team New Zealand between the
end of the challenger series and the start of the America's
Cup competition, Spokesman Murray Taylor said.
Team New Zealand must make a boat declaration on February
10th ahead of the America’s Cup Match.
The mystery surrounding New Zealand's yachts to
contest next month's America's Cup will end on Tuesday
when the holders finally unveil their much-hyped boats.
For months, as the original nine challengers have been
whittled down to the two for the best-of-nine Louis
Vuitton Cup final starting next Saturday, the defending
Team New Zealand have been towing their two boats out
on to the training grounds wrapped in full hull skirts.
These were to stop people seeing what was under the
waterline in terms of rudders, keels or any other technology
aimed at gaining a speed advantage. A month ago it was
revealed the Kiwis had found a way of driving a truck
through the design rules and arrived at a double hull
idea that has significantly improved performance.
People are excited to see the body bustle device, now
known as the Kiwi clip-on although the the New Zealanders
make no claim to have originated the idea.
The old bias in favour of the defender - it goes back
to the 1880s and will be one of many factors coming
under scrutiny for the next Cup - means the Kiwis can
unveil two boats and choose later while the two challenger
finalists, Alinghi and Oracle BMW, of San Francisco,
will today reveal which boat they will race before unveiling
it tomorrow.
If Team New Zealand choose to unveil only one boat then
that boat must be the one used in the match. If they
unveil them both, which they are more than likely to
do, they have the option of using either one for the
match.
Oracle and Alinghi have until 1pm today to notify the
challenger of record management committee if they intend
to change yachts for the best-of-nine series final starting
on Saturday.
Alinghi have stuck with SUI 64 throughout the regatta,
but have spent the last few weeks out on the Hauraki
Gulf trialling the new hull appendage on SUI 75, which
is rumoured to be a faster boat.
Tactician Brad Butterworth said in early December, "We'll
definitely sail 75 when we feel it's a better boat than
64. When we feel she's going well enough we'll put her
in."
Oracle BMW have also stuck with one yacht, USA 76, since
round robin one. Not a lot is known about their earlier
built yacht USA 71 and it is likely they will race with
the newer of the two Bruce Farr designed boats in the
final.
Alinghi's unveiling is the first at 9am tomorrow and
will be beamed around the world on the Internet. Oracle
are next at 11am followed by Team New Zealand at 12.30pm.
All syndicates will also open their doors to the public.
TNZ
to be quizzed over trademark money
(12/28/02) (source
: NZ
Herald)
A high-powered meeting organised by the New York
Yacht Club and Prada's club, Punta Ala, will be held
today over the question of Team New Zealand's use of
America's Cup money.
Team NZ have been invited but Defender spokesman Murray
Taylor said the syndicate were aware of the meeting,
but did not know details.
The two members most likely to attend it, Team NZ chief
executive Ross Blackman and rules adviser Russell Green,
were not available.
The debate over use of money earned from rights to the
America's Cup trademarks has gathered momentum over
the past few days with a document doing the rounds of
syndicates setting out arguments why challengers should
get a slice of cup profits.
The issue has been further complicated by a mystery
challenger who asked the New York Attorney-General's
office to investigate. While the defender and challengers
are licensed to use the America's Cup symbol, only the
cupholder - in this case Team New Zealand - can raise
money through its use.
The money raised is used to host the event, but any
surplus can be used to run the defender's sailing budget.
For Team NZ, operating in a small economy with limited
sponsorship opportunities, money from America's Cup
trademarks is a vital part of the defence budget.
No one was laying claim to being the team which made
inquiries to the New York Attorney-General.
However, sources told it was the Swiss Alinghi syndicate
- new home to former Team New Zealand skipper Russell
Coutts and tactician Brad Butterworth. Alinghi denied
this.
Spokesman Bernard Schopfer said Alinghi had not made
inquiries to New York but did want the syndicates to
get around the table and discuss the issue.
Mr Schopfer said Yacht Club Punta Ala, home of the Prada
challenge, had been a key organiser of today's meeting.
Somewhere amid the accusations and secrecy is a discussion
paper written by Alinghi rules adviser Hamish Ross.
It is understood to propose changes to the cup management
and questions whether the event should be registered
as a charitable trust.
One of the suggestions understood to be in the paper
is whether there should be transparency in the accounts
of funds raised and whether the distribution of any
surplus money should go not just to the cup holder but
to every team trying to win the cup.
Team NZ could be asked to reveal details of income and
expenditure for the 2000 campaign when they beat Prada
to retain the cup.
A
too much profitable Defense ?
(12/23/02) (source
: The
Independent)
An anonymous request has been laid on the desk
of the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, to
look into the way the current trustee of the Cup, the
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, has handled its financial
affairs.
While efforts are being made to use the freedom of information
act to discover who has raised the issue, no-one has
yet admitted authorship of an additional 15-page document
asserting that funds raised through the event are not
being properly distributed.
In the past, staging the America's Cup has been loss-making,
but, more recently, modest profits have been made and
the RNZYS obtains money through commercial deals to
pay for staging the event.
Now, some challengers feel that they should have a share
of those profits.
The New York Yacht Club, a trustee for over 100 years,
is co-ordinating with the RNZYS and the two other clubs
that have been trustees, the Royal Perth Yacht Club
and the San Diego Yacht Club, a proposal to put to the
Charities Bureau of the New York attorney general's
office [Remember that under NY law the America's Cup
is technically a "charitable trust"] a revised form
of wording that would update the basis on which the
Cup is run, rather than relying on the 1880s wording
of the Deed of Gift.
TNZ are also worrying that, if they retain the Cup,
about whom they could work with as Challenger of Record
to produce a new protocol. The old one dies as soon
as the present Cup is decided.
Outline talks have been held with the GBR Challenge
head Peter Harrison, with the offer of a get-out clause
should he not eventually mount a second challenge.
NZ
Government is preparing the next Defense
(12/21/02) (source
: NZ
Herald)
No one will be surprised to see Oracle beat OneWorld
in the repechage and go on to lose in the final to
Alinghi. And then the surviving Swiss syndicate will
turn its death gaze on the youthful New Zealanders.
By being allowed to design a basic hull that looks
less powerful, and then attach a second underwater
skin - what has already become known as the "Kiwi
clip" - that restores not only full power but extra
power, means the Kiwi yacht should have an unassailable
advantage.
Unless the three remaining syndicates succeed in getting
the same underwater appendage on their yachts, they
will have to start a new campaign, unable to
match the power of the Defender. That means Team New
Zealand are likely to retain the cup.
When the Cup was in San Diego, it was hard to find
anyone two blocks from the waterfront who even knew
what was going on aside from just some yacht club
thing but the Kiwis have built a Cup city.
If a nation's wishes could create windpower (as happened
in a 2000 Kiwi TV ad), certainly 4 million Kiwis could
push their boat faster than either US boat or even
the Swiss. The Kiwis feel this stuff deep in their
hearts, in their seat of national pride.
Now, America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard expressed
confidence that the 2003 campaign was in top form
but, should the Team NZ win, a new question is how
to ensure America's Cup syndicates can stay at the
Viaduct Harbour if New Zealand hosts another campaign.
Four of the 11 syndicate bases at the Viaduct will
be lost after this Cup because they are on private
land due to be developed into apartments.
Today, a taskforce set up to decide how to provide
enough room at the Viaduct once the four bases were
lost to commercial development proposes an extension
of the Halsey St wharf which would provide enough
room for two or three new bases, at a cost of $16
million.
It could be developed separately or alongside
a second $6 million option involving the widening
of the western Viaduct area, which now houses Prada,
which would also provide enough room for two extra
bases.
America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard said the taskforce
considered 13 options to set up bases around or outside
the Viaduct, including at Gulf Harbour, but the preference
was to keep the syndicates centralised.
ACVL chairman Peter Kiely said each of the existing
syndicates had been spoken to about their plans for
future cups, and most had indicated they would return
and wanted to renew existing leases, including two
teams housed on the sites earmarked for private development.
He said it was not yet clear what would happen to
syndicates which had leased more than one site for
this cup, such as Alinghi of Switzerland, which occupies
two bases, but most teams had actually asked for increased
land.
He said teams also wanted to secure leases quickly.
"They've realised if they want to be competitive in
this contest they have to be here for three years."
Trevor Mallard said any development was dependent
on Team New Zealand's defending the Cup, but the Government
wanted to give challengers an assurance that work
was underway to provide sufficient syndicate bases.
