It’s called Taihoro, the AC75 that Emirates Team New Zealand named at the team base in Wynyard Point, Auckland on 18 April, a day of pouring rain. Taihoro, which is inspired by the term Taihoro-Nukurangi which in the Maori language means “Moving quickly like the sea between heaven and earth”, was named by Helen Clark, former New Zealand prime minister and godmother of Emirates Team New Zealand and includes the design work, innovation and team building over the past three years. Taihoro-Nukurangi, as was explained during the ceremony: captures the dynamic essence of the sea (Tai), the concept of speed (Horo), the earth’s movement (Nuku), and the expanse of the sky (Rangi).” (Here all our posts on the America’s Cup)
85,000 hours of work
The construction of Taihoro required the work of 54 people who spent over 85,000 hours building the new AC75 Kiwi under the guidance of Geoff Senior, responsible for the construction of the Defender boat.”This is probably the 14th Emirates Team New Zealand boat that some of them have built. In saying this, at the other end of the spectrum, we are really proud to have also had 10 boat building apprentices in the ranks that have been training throughout the build also.” Taihoro arrived at the base at Wynyard Point at night and overcast a few weeks ago and had since undergone a complete set-up by the hydraulic, mechatronic, electronics and ground crew technical teams to be ready for its unveiling. last April 12th and then for the naming ceremony.
America’s Cup: Taihoro Ambassador of New Zealand
“This is the boat which we will take to Barcelona to defend the Americas’ Cup for New Zealand later this year and the name Taihoro helps us to carry our identity to Barcelona and to share our country’s innovation and culture on the world stage” said Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand who, in front of the audience also made up of family and friends of the team, recalled that: “So much of what the team does has to be kept secret from friends and family for obvious reasons and the work involves a huge amount of dedication, commitment, and time. So, it is always special to share the result of that effort with them at our home base naming and presenting Taihoro”.
And Luna Rossa passes the first test
First towing test passed for Luna Rossa which, three days after the launch on Saturday 13 April, carried out its first towing test in water. On board alongside technicians Jimmy Spithill and Francesco Bruni and flight controllers Umberto Molineris and Andrea Tesei.
These are the first impressions of the new boat from Horacio Carabelli, coordinator of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli design team: “I think that everybody, all the teams, are investing in that, how you close, how you seal yourself with the sea level and it’s also about what’s going to be the conditions at the venue and everybody’s looking for something in that direction. I believe that when we have been developing and looking forward, we’re pretty happy with it at the moment but let’s see how it goes sailing…when we’re pushing hard it’s going to give us other answers as well.”
Emilio Martinelli
