Cup Briefs: NZL38 retired

In the tradition of great basketballers, Black Magic II has had her number retired and hoisted to the ceiling of the Team New Zealand shed. A huge chunk of the mainsail bearing the number NZL38 is sitting in the rafters of the TNZ base, with the 1995 black boat having been packed away. Now that the new boat, NZL57, has arrived at the shed, the old Black Magic I will stay on the water till mid-November.

Black is hot

Black could be the hot colour for America's Cup boats this summer. We know Team New Zealand's new yachts will again be jet black, but there's a hint that their New York Yacht Club rivals could follow suit.

The graphics for Young America's first new boat, USA53 - rumoured to arrive in Auckland any day now - show red and silver "techno sharks" on a black boat. There is already a strong Kiwi influence on the boat designed by Bruce Farr, with five New Zealanders in the crew: Ross Halcrow, Stu Bettany, Mark Christiansen, Jamie Gale and Grant Spanhake. There may be something about the colour - the Auld Mug's namesake, America, was black.

Bryan's the boss

Englishman Bryan Willis will call the shots on the water in the America's Cup after being appointed chief umpire and chairman of the jury for both the challenger series and the cup match. He has a rich cup history - as rules advisor for the Swedish challenge in 1980, the British in '83 and the Kookaburra defence in '87. Willis was also head umpire in the 1992 cup in San Diego, when on-the-water rulings were first made.

Aloha from Hawaii

Aloha Racing are taking the Blue Hawaii theme very seriously. Their first boat USA50 is sporting dark blue sails - the colour resulting from "the ultraviolet protectant which covers the exotic fibres laminated between the two films." Hawaii's second boat, USA54, is almost out of the shed in Ko Olina after being painted with whales, dolphins and other sealife.

Big day out

NZL57 was given no rest after her traumatic four-hour delivery journey across the Waitemata Harbour on Wednesday. The minute she arrived in the Team NZ shed in the cup village - after being stuck in mud and a tree - the shrinkwrap was torn off and work began putting on her deck gear and appendages for her launch in three weeks.

Skipper Russell Coutts gave the boat, and her builders, the thumbs up. "They're a complex boat to build. But we were very careful about this one." Work had slowed down on the sister ship, NZL60, to get the first boat ready to move. "But the second boat is always quicker than the first - in construction that is," Coutts said.