Yachting: Second Cup defender will be millennium's last

By Suzanne McFadden

Team New Zealand's second boat to defend the America's Cup is finally under way - and it could be the last new cup boat of this millennium.

The new hull has been branded NZL60 and is sitting next to the first defender boat, NZL57, at a boatyard in Glenfield.

Construction of the first boat is gliding along, but it won't be in the water for at least six weeks. Team New Zealand's plan has been to have both boats sailing against each other by November.

Around the globe, 18 new generation America's Cup boats are now either in the water, or in the construction shed.

The first boat to be given a sail number for the 1999 challenger series, Nippon's JPN44, was launched yesterday.

She is the seventh new cup boat sailing at different spots around the world - the others are in France, Spain, California, Hawaii, and two in Italy.

Paul Cayard's AmericaOne is the latest new boat to be issued a number, USA61. It was being built in Costa Mesa, California, as her sister, USA49, started sailing off Long Beach yesterday. That could be the last sail number issued for this America's Cup.

Syndicates, both challenger and defence, can build only two new boats. Most have used up their quota already. If anyone is to get a number now, it will be the mysterious Russians. They have rebuilt an old 1992 boat and are waiting to see if it is legal.

But time is ticking by. The deadline for the challengers is now only 10 days away. By August 1, every challenger must send at least one boat number to the America's Cup Challenger Association to prove that they are serious.

It looks virtually certain that the British and Hong Kong syndicates will be cut from the list next Sunday. Australia will use an old 1995 boat, AUS29, while the second French campaign, Esprit France, could employ FRA40, the yellow yacht already sitting in Auckland.

The serious French team, Le Defi, have one boat sailing and are seeking money for another.

ACCA head Dyer Jones said yesterday that eight official notices of entry had been received from challengers, and he was expecting the paperwork from two certainties, the Italian Prada camp and Hawaii's Aloha Racing, in the next week.