Emirates Team New Zealand launches its new AC75
Emirates Team New Zealand revealed its second generation AC75 yesterday at its base in Auckland’s Viaduct. It is the boat that will be used to defend the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada in just over 100 days’ time.
The boat was christened ‘Te Rehutai’ by Lady Margaret Tindall in a ceremony in front a nearly 900 strong crowd.
Te Rehutai is the last of the second generation AC75s to be launched across the AC36 teams. For Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton, boat launches are always a particularly proud day for the entire team.
“These occasions are special because they give you a quick opportunity to take a moment and be proud of what has been achieved. But not by a long stretch is this the end, we still have a huge amount to achieve in the next 4 months if we are to win the America’s Cup again.”
The design and build of an America’s Cup boat is often one of the challenges of any cup campaign because of the secrecy and confidentiality in protecting the design IP at vital stages of a campaign.
Emirates Team New Zealand COO Kevin Shoebridge explains just how much of an effort has gone into getting Te Rehutai on the water. “We had our launch date for our race boat in the calendar for probably close to a year. So it really is a huge feat that we are here launching Te Rehutai today considering we lost 5 weeks of build time in the first COVID-19 lock down.
“ I can’t speak highly enough of the skill and determination that the team at our build facility have shown under exceptionally challenging circumstances for not only them but our suppliers, sponsors and everyone that has contributed. ”
Not a traditional looking hull shape which points to the clear aerodynamic emphasis given to the design.
“We’ve been searching for the perfect balance between hydrodynamic and aerodynamic performance,” says Dan Bernasconi, Head of Design.
“An AC75 that was optimised purely to accelerate and take-off would look very different to one which was optimised for steady-flight – and that’s reflected in the huge variation we see between our Competitors’ yachts in the fleet. Te Rehutai is designed to excel in both domains – the water and the air – and we’re confident she’ll be competitive across the range of wind-speeds we may see in the America’s Cup.”
Watch as Te Rehutai out on the water on day one of testing.
While Emirates Team New Zealand celebrates the launch of its new boat, two new America’ Cup sponsors have been announced.
Coca-Cola Amatil is to be the official soft drinks supplier for the 36th America’s Cup.
Chris Litchfield, Coca-Cola Amatil New Zealand Managing Director, says the partnership is an ideal opportunity to bring packaging sustainability to the forefront of people’s minds.
“As part of the event, we will have a bespoke pop-up refreshment and recycling café-style hub located in the America’s Cup Village. This allows us to provide our range of drinks from water, to juice to Coke No Sugar, as well as raise awareness of the importance of recycling bottles and cans so they can have another life, again and again.”
And online retailer TheMarket.com is the official retail partner and sponsor of Emirates Team New Zealand’s defence of the America’s Cup.
“As a locally owned and operated business, we’re really proud to be supporting Emirates Team New Zealand on the path to victory. It makes sense for us to be flying the flag in our sponsorship of this amazing event,” says TheMarket CEO, Justus Wilde.
