America's Cup Notes

True dedication

America True's new boat will have to make a long journey up hill and down dale before she gets her keel wet. Dawn Riley's syndicate will launch their yacht on May 26 after it has been trucked across country. The boat has been built in Truckee, near Lake Tahoe, and will be towed over the Sierra Mountains and through the California gold country foothills to San Francisco's Pier 17 for the dedication ceremony.

Hawaiians under way

The Waikiki Yacht Club's Aloha Racing syndicate will christen their first boat on June 12. Abracadabra 2000 is the first America's Cup yacht ever built in Hawaii, and will be launched with a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony before it begins training off Ko Olina.

Numbers rising

Thirteen challenger boats have now been issued sail numbers for the Louis Vuitton Cup - the latest addition is the Spanish Challenge, who are building their second boat. Nine syndicates are charging ahead with boat construction, while the Russians' claim that they have built a boat still remains a mystery.

Full moon fever

Patrizio Bertelli, or "Mr Prada," on how he came to name Italy's new America's Cup yacht: "I decided to call the boat Luna Rossa [Red Moon] one evening over dinner under a full moon. The name, which I find very romantic, evokes to me fantasy and has a kind of magic feeling which relates to the boat Black Magic of Team New Zealand."

Conner's Kiwi pals

Top New Zealand sailors Murray Ross and Erle Williams will lend a helping hand to their Etchells sailing buddy, Dennis Conner, and his Stars and Stripes cup campaign. Williams and Ross have been hired as skipper and navigator for Conner's Volvo round-the-world race syndicate, and will also support his America's Cup team. Ross is working on the Stars and Stripes weather team and building a tender for Conner.