America's Cup Fleet - Team New Zealand

Cabo Adventures proudly owns four authentic America's Cup regatta sailing yachts. Team Australia: AUS 29 and AUS 31 & Team New Zealand: NZL 81 and NZL 82; each of them has a rich history of appearances in Americas Cup Match Races.  

Team New Zealand - NZL 82

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, NZL, Edition 31(2003)

Designer : Tom Schnackenberg, Clay Oliver & Mike Drumond
Builder : Cookson Boatbuilders

- 2003: Unsuccessful Defender of the 31th America's Cup Challenge 

The story

2002
TNZ built two boats: NZL-81 and NZL-82. This last one was selected to race the 31st 2003 America's Cup Challenge.

The 2003 America's Cup races: 15 February to 2 March 2003 off Auckland, New Zealand -
Fives races out of nine races
New Zealand NZL-82 raced against the Swiss challenger, Alinghi SUI-64

Courses: five races sailed.

Course: 18.55 nautical miles off Auckland, six legs windward leeward course with downwind finish.

Results:

Alinghi beat New Zealand by five wins to nil!

- 15 February 1st race, 18.55 miles: Alinghi beat New Zealand. Did not finish.
- 16 February 2nd race, 18.55 miles: Alinghi beat New Zealand by 07 seconds
- 18 February 3rd race, 18.55 miles: Alinghi beat New Zealand by 23 seconds.
- 28 February 4th race, 18.55 miles: Alinghi beat New Zealand. Did not finish
- 2nd March 5th race, 18.55 miles: Alinghi beat New Zealand by 45 seconds.

For the first time in the America's Cup history, a defender did not finish two of the races. In the first race, it had to withdraw after taking on water shortly before the start and then breaking the boom. In the fourth race, the New Zealand mast broke. In the three other races, the game was quite close. In the second race, Alinghi won a very close finish thanks to better sailing tactics on the final run. 

NEW ZEALAND
2003
Sail number: NZL 82
NZL

Yacht Club: Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Westhaven Marina in Auckland
Unsuccessful defender of the 31th 2003 America's Cup Challenge

Owner: Team New Zealand, Ltd. Ross Blackman Chief Executive Officer.
Syndicate head: Tom Schnackenberg.

International America's Cup Class IACC
Sloop

Design team: Tom Schnackenberg, Clay Oliver, and Mike Drumond.

Builder: Cookson Boatbuilders, North Shore, Auckland. Cookson staff plus TNZ personnel.
Sailmaker: North NZ in Freemans Bay.
Spars: Southern Spars.

Year of building: 2002
Launched: 21 October 2002
Homeport: Auckland

Skipper: Dean Barker
Tactician: Adam Beashel, Hamish Pepper
Navigator: Mike Drumond
Helmsmen: Cameron Appleton, Bertrand Pace
Crew: 16.

Data:

Construction -

Carbon fiber, Nomex honeycomb.
Fitted with a controversial hull appendage, on the aft part of the hull nicknamed the "hula".

Dimensions -

L.O.A.: 24.07 m
L.W.L.: 18.28 m
Beam: 4.11 m
Draft: 3.96 m
Sail area: 306 m2
Displacement: 27.550 tons
Mast: 33.50 m
Rating: IACC

J.T./pr