America's Cup- Grant Dalton reflects on the first 24 days sailing

by Sail-World on 29 Nov 2012
Emirates Team New Zealand's MD, Grant Dalton, who also crews on the AC72 has confirmed that the boat which has done 24 days sailing, will now be used only as a spare boat for the team.

It is believed that the boat will be taken out of commission around mid-December, and parts of it will be transferred to the teams new boat due for launch in early February. It also seems that the team will be given a reasonable break over the Christmas break before starting the final push for the America's Cup Regatta starting in just seven months time.

The second boat is expected to be significantly different from the first, but is expected to follow the same theme of simplicity, and will incorporate the thinking and lessons learned from the 24 days of sailing thus far.

At the launch of the first AC72 Dalton made the comment that the boat might only sail for 30 days. it would seem that his comment, which seemed incredible at the time, will prove to be correct.