The America's Cup defenders are now the last team to present their second Cup yacht. "Te Rehutai" will carry the hopes and dreams of the New Zealanders in the 36th America's Cup duel from 6 March. Her name from the Māori language is almost philosophical in nature and can be translated as follows: "Where the essence of the ocean invigorates and energises our strength and determination."
At first glance, the long keeler looks even more radical than the designs of the challengers. Head of Design Dan Bernasconi said: "We were looking for the perfect balance between hydrodynamics and aerodynamics. If it was an AC75 made just for acceleration and take-off, it would look very different to one optimised for steady flight. This reflects the wide range of designs we see in our challenger fleet. 'Te Rehutai' was made to excel in both areas: in the water and in the air. We are confident that she will be competitive in all the wind ranges we will see in the America's Cup."
The boat, in a classic red and black Kiwi colour scheme, was blessed by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and christened by Lady Margaret Tindall in front of 900 guests. Team Principal Grant Dalton said: "These occasions are always special because they give you the opportunity to pause for a moment and be proud of what has been achieved so far. But this is by no means the end. We still have a lot to achieve in the next four months if we want to win the America's Cup again." COO Kevin Shoebridge said: "We've had the date for the christening of our 'Te Rehutai' on the calendar for around a year. So it's a great achievement that we can unveil 'Te Rehutai' today, considering we lost five weeks in the first Covid-19 lockdown."
The new boat will be in action for the first time at the America's Cup Christmas Regatta from 17 to 20 December and will meet the new boats of the three challenger teams. Dan Bernasconi said: "We have confidence in our designs and our ideas. But that said, we remain humble enough to realise that we can't say much about whether we're right until the first race in a month's time. And even then, we won't have the full picture by 6 March. So we're pushing as hard as we can in development to make sure we get as much speed and performance from 'Te Rehutai' as possible."
The man who is to successfully steer the projectile on course for the Cup in New Zealand's Cup waters off Auckland was visibly delighted at the christening. Olympic 49er champion, circumnavigator and Cup defender Peter Burling said: "It's always exciting to get a new toy. But we're already pretty much past the point of excitement because the next two weeks will be the most crucial in terms of further development and preparation for the first races in a few weeks' time." While the challengers have been moving their new second-generation boats around the Cup area intensively over the past few weeks, the Kiwis have had to spend almost five weeks on land, keeping fit and helping to prepare the new boat. "The pressure is mounting now," said Burling, "but this is what we're most comfortable with. So we can't wait for the races to start."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
