Team New Zealand has announced the name of the boat that will sail in their defence of the 37th America’s Cup.
Named Taihoro, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust chairperson Marama Royal said the boats name was inspired by Taihoro-Nukurangi, which translates to “to move swiftly as the sea between both sky and earth.”
“Taihoro-Nukurangi 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),” she explained.
“Taihoro is not just traversing the ocean; it bridges the gap between sea and sky in its quest for victory.”
Team NZ head of construction Geoff Senior said this has been a “hugely technical” boat build over the last 10 months with 45 boat builders totalling over 85,000 hours to complete the vessel.
“The design team have certainly pushed the envelope with the design of Taihoro which has tested our build team the whole way through.”
Senior added the team was “so lucky” to have so much experience, with some of them probably building their 14th Team NZ boat.
“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 was transported to the Team NZ base under the cover of darkness weeks ago.
It has since been fitted out by the technical hydraulic, mechatronic, electronic and shore crew teams custom fitting the thousands of components and systems.
Team NZ CEO Grant Dalton said these moments are always “especially proud occasions for the team.”
“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 in partnership with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei who again have given our boat a really special and meaningful identity.”
Skipper Peter Burling said it was a “really exciting time” as the different teams debut their boats.
“Obviously there is a lot of interest in what each other’s boats look like, but our 100% focus is on Taihoro and working through our ongoing development program getting it up to speed.
“We don’t have long sailing in Auckland before we start shipping up to Barcelona, so it is an intense but exciting time for the team.”
Barcelona is set to host the 37th America’s Cup with racing to kick off on August 22.