The first two America's Cup yachts to contest the Louis Vuitton challenger series arrived in Auckland yesterday on an Antonov plane as the campaigns to wrest the Auld Mug from Team New Zealand get into full swing.
Sweden's Victory Challenge boat adiÖrn (SWE 63) - the first time the Swedes have entered the cup since 1992 - and the Alinghi Swiss Challenge boat (SUI 64) landed in Auckland last night from Gothenburg Airport after stopovers in Kiev and Jakarta.
While some syndicates have training boats here, last night's arrivals are the first to be built in their home countries and brought to New Zealand.
Russell Coutts' Swiss Challenge is the latest syndicate to set up shop at the Viaduct Basin. After six months, their Ugo Brunoni-designed base - which appears the biggest of all the syndicates - is complete.
Alinghi and Victory Challenge join American syndicates Oracle and One World, Italy's Prada, the Great Britain Challenge and Team New Zealand, who are already testing and training in Auckland.
The challenger series starts next October, and the America's Cup showdown is in February 2003.
News about the America's Cup
Competition for the America's Cup
Team NZ: who's in, who's out
America's Cup boats arrive for challenge
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