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Emirates Team New Zealand has
taken delivery of its second new America’s Cup yacht.
NZL 92 arrived at the team’s Viaduct Harbour, Auckland,
base before daybreak today after an unannounced
journey over the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
It is now in the boatshed being prepared for launch
later this month. Appendages, hydraulic and electronic
systems and deck hardware will be fitted over the
next couple of weeks.
NZL 84, which the team campaigned in Valencia this
year, recently arrived back in Auckland and modifications
will begin soon.
"We have just over six months to perfect the
boat and team package before the start of the Louis
Vuitton challenger series in Valencia", Grant
Dalton said.
There’s no time now for second thoughts, no going
back to the drawing board.
"The team has come a long way since June 2004
when we announced that the challenge would go ahead
but there’s still a lot of work to do by April 16
when the series starts".
"We intend to do exhaustive reliability trials
on NZL 92 and 84 through November then both yachts
will be back on a Maersk containership by Christmas,
bound for Valencia."
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