Emirates Team New Zealand hope to get a jump on their America's Cup opposition by forming an alliance with rivals Luna Rossa in which they will build a boat for the Italian team and share all of their design and testing information.
It's a groundbreaking move and one which Team New Zealand chief executive Grant Dalton hopes will allow his team to get an early advantage over Oracle Racing, the team which will defend the America's Cup in San Francisco in 2013. The partnership has been accepted by the Golden Gate Yacht Club ahead of the 34th America's Cup.
"From a cooperation point of view this is totally open book,'' Dalton said. "Luna Rossa will get the exact design of our boat one. We're building two boats for the next America's Cup and we will build that boat for them. We'll then share testing information on the water, we'll make alterations to the boats and basically we'll find out what works and what doesn't. It also allows us to get testing a little earlier than you would normally be able to under the rules. The cooperation must finish under the protocol by the end of next year by which time we go our own separate ways.''
The next America's Cup will be sailed in 72-foot catamarans, a new class for the event which has been in existence since 1851.
The New Zealand-Italian alliance means the entire Luna Rossa team of more than 60 will move to Auckland, build a base, and test alongside Team New Zealand until 2013. The deal is certain to provide lucrative economic benefits to the New Zealand marine industry and Auckland as a whole.