With dismissing Artemis Racing, Emirates Team New Zealand has secured their fourth Louis Vuitton Cup win and the right to race defender Oracle next week. Much of the talk about Emirates Team New Zealand during the LVC series has been about how they have never been afraid to do something different.
This time, the focus has been on their use of leg grinders and interesting hydrofoil shapes. But the Kiwi team also went to a mast builder to build their boat. Southern Spars has been at the top of the mast building game for almost three decades. They produce the world’s finest carbon fibre masts, booms and rigging.
Mark Hauser, company founder, says that the partnership between Southern Spars and Emirates Team New Zealand has been going for a long time, but this time it was particularly special.
“Southern Spars was an especially good fit for building the Emirates Team New Zealand ACC yacht. In order for an America’s Cup campaign to be successful, their boat, their dagger boards and their wing sails, need to be built to the absolute highest levels of accuracy. And that is exactly what we are used to doing.”
“We have been working together since before they won The Cup in 1995. So there is a lot of trust there already that we would be able to deliver. They’ve still got a pretty big mountain to climb in the form of Oracle and the America’s Cup match. But I think the team has already showed that they are up there performance wise.”
The ACC yacht was built in Southern Spars custom built carbon fibre manufacturing plant in Auckland, New Zealand. The company produced the hulls, two wing sails, and a set of hydrofoils for the New Zealand challenger in a mammoth project that took more than 30,000 hours. For the full story, click here.
Southern Spars wishes the team the best of luck in their upcoming series against Oracle Team USA.