Mighty Thirty-Two arrives in Cowes

Team New Zealand's 1995 America's Cup winner does Cowes fly-by

The Mighty Thirty-Two, Team New Zealand's all conquering 25m America's Cup Class yacht from 1995 sailed past and then picked up a mooring in front of Cowes on Friday evening. After Australia II, she is the second of five America's Cup winners to arrive in the Solent for the America's Cup Jubilee which starts on August 18th.

NZL-32 was shipped earlier this year from New Zealand to Lorient in France where she has been chartered to the French America's Cup Challenge, Le Défi. The French syndicate have been using the boat for training and tuning purposes, but handed the boat back to representatives of Team New Zealand on Wednesday night, 1 August and she will return to France after the Jubilee. She was fitted with some fundamental safety equipment, including navigation lights, a liferaft, flares, torches etc, before they left Lorient at 4 am the next morning to start the 270 mile delivery to Cowes. This was possibly the longest voyage ever sailed by an ACC boat, a class more used to sailing in protected coastal waters.

Team New Zealand boss Tom Schnackenberg skippered the black boat with eight support crew on board and three in the support boat, making the passage partly under tow and partly under sail with a cut down delivery mainsail.

Dean Barker arrives in a few days time to head the racing team for the Jubilee. Until then NZL-32 will be based in Portsmouth where she will be prepared and logo'd prior to this classic event.