Emirates Team New Zealand have launched their test boat, TE KĀHU – meaning ‘The Hawk’ – at the Auckland waterfront.
TE KAHU – America’s Cup
Staying within the rules of the 36th America’s Cup protocol, TE KĀHU does not exceed 12m/39ft LOA and will be used to continue design development as the AC75 TE AIHE heads to Cagliari, Sardina (23rd-26th April), and then Portsmouth, the UK (4th-7th June), for the America’s Cup World Series.
“We are really excited about launching TE KĀHU today,” said Grant Dalton, CEO for Emirates Team New Zealand. “There has been a lot of work gone into the design and build of this boat internally, which is amazing really as it has all taken place between the design and build of our first AC75 and the ongoing work on our next AC75 race boat.”
TE KĀHU might seem like a late-comer considering the first test boats started appearing back in September 2018, however, Dalton explains that this is all part of a long-term plan on the part of Emirates Team New Zealand:
“As a team, we decided that a test boat was indeed a really key necessity but believed it needed to have as much design input as our first AC75 to give it meaningful ongoing development possibilities. …It was a conscious decision of ours to… play the long game knowing that points don’t start to count until the first race of the America’s Cup, which obviously is in March 2021.”
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