An Emirates SkyCargo 747 airplane carrying the Emirates Team New Zealand America’s Cup race boat has departed the Auckland airport in New Zealand, and is expected to arrive in Bermuda on Monday.
Emirates Team New Zealand COO Kevin Shoebridge explains, “It really is a precise operation that the guys are running, but it was always going to be.
“We have had this plan in the pipeline for a good 6 months or so now, so at the end of the day it is just part of our process towards getting to Bermuda to bring the America’s Cup home to New Zealand.”
“But the deployment is on and every day counts, so we need everything go to plan so that we are back testing and sailing on the Great Sound in Bermuda in as little time as possible.”
The operation has been months in the planning from modelling the contents and loading of the aircraft, to getting bespoke racking produced, to physically packing everything onto the Emirates SkyCargo 747 aeroplane.
“We have our ACC race boat, two wing sails, a chase boat, daggerboards, gym equipment, electrics, hydraulics and a huge amount of supplementary equipment which equates to around 42 tonnes of cargo,” explained project manager Martin McElwee.
