Team NZ last yacht to arrive in Bermuda

Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup race boat is finally on its way to Bermuda.

The 50ft catamaran was loaded on an Emirates cargo plane at Auckland International Airport yesterday, bound for the small island in the middle of the Atlantic.

Team NZ will be the last America’s Cup team to arrive in Bermuda having opted to stay in Auckland during testing and development. The team’s final day of sailing in Auckland was late last month, since then the shore crew have been packing up the boat and equipment.

Forty two tonnes of cargo was loaded on to the flight.

Team NZ’s chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge said the operation had been months in the planning from modelling the contents and loading of the aircraft, to getting bespoke racking produced, to packing everything on to the 747 aircraft.

“It really is a precise operation that the guys are running, but it was always going to be. We have had this plan in the pipeline for a good six months or so now, so at the end of the day it is just part of our process towards getting to Bermuda to bring the America’s Cup home to New Zealand,” said Shoebridge.

“But the deployment is on and every day counts, so we need everything go to plan so that we are back testing and sailing on the Great Sound in Bermuda in as little time as possible.”

Upon arrival in Bermuda the boat will be reassembled at Team NZ’s new home in the heart of the America’s Cup race village in the Royal Naval Dockyard, on the western tip of the main island.

Team NZ sent an advance group to Bermuda in January to start setting up the base in Bermuda.

As well as providing a hub for its sailing operations, the base will be also made up of a working tent for the America’s Cup Class race boat, a gym, the design and support team offices and another tent for the two wing sails and hospitality area.