America's Cup - Southern Spars has third America's Cup win

by Ben Gladwell on 28 Jun 2017 Southern Spars, builders of Emirates Team New Zealand’s winning America’s Cup Class catamaran, has congratulated the team on their outstanding performance in 35th America’s Cup.

The Auckland based company, who has had a strong bond with the team since building their rigs for the 1995 winning challenge, took on a different role in this cycle – becoming the builder of the entire boat package.

Emirate’s Team New Zealand’s ACC yacht took shape over the course of more than 30,000 man hours inside Southern Spars 10,000 square metre facility in Auckland. While it seems like a big step to go from building a mast to an entire yacht, but for Southern Spars, it wasn’t a major departure from the norm.

The company regularly builds large booms for superyachts, some of which exceed 24-metres in length, much larger than the ACC yacht. Their manufacture process and internal structure are very similar to that of the flying catamarans.

For Emirates Team New Zealand, one of the deciding factors when choosing Southern Spars as a manufacturer was reputation and capabilities when it comes to precision carbon fibre manufacture.

“Southern Spars is always reliable at getting a top-quality job done on time, which is hugely important for us,” says Kevin Shoebridge, Emirates Team New Zealand COO. “Spar building is a very precise and controlled process, components are built to very tight specifications and weights etc. so we were completely confident that what was designed and specified would be delivered.”

Southern Spars is particularly proud to have been involved with the project, says general manager, Peter Batcheler.

“This is a big win for New Zealand,” he says. “The positive implications of the America’s Cup being bought back to New Zealand extend far beyond the team themselves and for Southern Spars. It is a very big deal for the wider marine industry and for the country as a whole. It brings the country into focus as a destination for people all over the world, whether they are looking to have a boat built, or somewhere to come for a holiday to watch the event at some time in the next few years.”

“We are very proud of our role in this campaign and the efforts of Emirates Team New Zealand,” he says.