Yachting: New boat's sweet, now it's up to the team, says Dalton

Prime Minister Helen Clark officially launches Team New Zealand's new yacht, NZL92. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Shrouded from the deck down, Team New Zealand's newest America's Cup yacht, NZL92, held centre stage in Auckland's Viaduct Basin last night.

The yacht is the syndicate's final shot at winning back the cup which was lifted from them by the Russell Coutts-skippered Swiss syndicate Alinghi in 2003.

Last night NZL92 was launched in a ceremony led by former French skipper Bruno Trouble. In keeping with tradition, Prime Minister Helen Clark christened the yacht by smashing a bottle of champagne over its bow.

"It is amazing to see how quickly Team NZ has recovered from such a disappointing performance in 2003," Trouble said last night.

"Although they lead the rankings in the Louis Vuitton series, there is a long way to go before the cup comes back here but what Grant Dalton has done is impressive."

NZL92 was delivered to the team's base earlier this month and is undergoing structural tests on the water.

Once they have been completed it will be raced against NZL84 - the syndicate's first latest-generation boat.

Both boats will be shipped to Valencia just before Christmas in preparation for the start of the challenger series on April 16.

Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton said the completion of NZL92 is an important milestone for his team.

"It is the beginning of the end of the story," Dalton said.

"You are starting to lay your cards on the table now. If you are wrong by much, you are pretty much stuffed. NZL84 and NZL92 are our best shot. I don't see any big changes to them between now and the cup.

"In NZL92, we think we have a potentially competitive yacht. Now the yachtsmen, designers and shore crew have to extract that potential."

Team NZ's first boat, NZL84, was launched last December. A narrow yacht with a full bow and slab sides, NZL84 is different from its rivals.

However, it has plenty of pace, as shown in the team's victory in the final match-racing pre-regatta in July which clinched the 2006 season championship for the team.

"You wouldn't want to suddenly think you had a rocket ship on your hands - we haven't," Dalton said.

"We have got a competitive boat that is sweet and doesn't seem to have any bad vices."