Team NZ recommission America’s Cup winning boat

Team New Zealand are bringing their America’s Cup winning boat Te Rehutai back into action.

The innovative AC75 made a surprise reappearance at the team’s new base in Auckland on Thursday, nestled alongside one of the smaller AC40s on cradles.

Te Rehutai has been inactive since beating Italy’s Luna Rossa in the Cup Match in March 2021, but the defenders confirmed it “will be back out foiling around the harbour with one or two new configurations in due course”.

Team New Zealand have been using their two AC40s, each crewed by just four people, for testing and training as they build into the defence of the Auld Mug at Barcelona next year.

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The return of Te Rehutai will bring another dimension to their buildup, allowing a full crew and some further innovations

In talking of “one of two new configurations” it’s likely the recommissioned boat will feature “cyclors“ rather than the traditional grinding stations of the last Cup.

Team New Zealand recently announcing a powerful lineup of cyclors to boost their sailing squad.

It will also be interesting to see if Te Rehutai features a twin-helming set-up which is the way the innovative AC40s have been configured and seems to be the way forward after Luna Rossa successfully debuted the feature two years ago, reducing the need for crew movement during turns.

Team New Zealand will soon commence the build of the AC75 that will be used to defend the Cup. Returning teams are only allowed to build one AC75, putting the pressure on design teams to get it right.

American Magic have had their Auckland AC75 in action in Florida for the first phase of their testing and developing for Barcelona 2024 with the boat featuring cyclors.

They are about to move into the AC40s for their next development phase.

The smaller boats, that can be used for testing and will also feature in the world series regattas as well as the youth and women’s America’s Cups, have proved an instant hit with the Swiss and British syndicates who have taken delivery of their first AC40s and quickly got them into action.

Alinghi, the former Cup champions who are finally returning to the foiling action, and Sir Ben Ainslie’s Team Britannia both got their new AC40s out on the water overnight in Europe.

Both were impressed with the instant performance of the AC40s, sailed in one-design mode, after being designed by Team New Zealand and built in China.