The first of several hundred tonnes of equipment needed in San Francisco for Emirates Team New Zealand's America's Cup challenge has left the country, beginning with the catamaran hull of Aotearoa (pictured).
The catamaran and its ''wing'' sails were transhipped from Ports of Auckland on Maersk Jubail then reloaded at Port of Tauranga to Pescara, which has departed for Oakland, in San Francisco Bay, due to arrive about May 10.
In the world series regatta that finished in Naples, Italy, this week, in which Team New Zealand finished a disappointing third overall, the competitors used 45ft (13.7m) catamarans, but they will switch to the larger 72ft catamarans for San Francisco.
Aside from the AC72 catamaran dispatched this week, during the next three weeks more than 70 40ft containers will be shipped to San Francisco, including two 12m chase boats, a 14m catamaran tender, a hydraulic travel lift and the two 40m-long wing sails.
The Team New Zealand campaign is expected to be ready by May 23, allowing five weeks testing and practice in the tricky waters of San Francisco Bay before racing begins in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenge, which starts on July 4.
