America Cup

Fact file: New Zealand and the America's Cup

The 34th America’s Cup will be sailed on San Francisco in 72-foot ultra-lightweight catamarans which have wing sails longer than a Boeing 747.

Three challengers - Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa (Italy) and Artemis (Sweden) - will compete in the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series which begins on 4 July 2013.

The winning challenger sails against defender Oracle Racing (USA) in September 2013 to determine who will hold the America’s Cup.

New Zealand and the America’s Cup fact file:

* New Zealand first won the America’s Cup in 1995 in San Diego

* New Zealand successfully defended the America’s Cup in 2000 in Auckland

* Emirates Team New Zealand was the first non-American team to successfully win and then defend the America’s Cup

* Kiwi sailors are represented in every competing team in the 34th America’s Cup

* At 26, New Zealand’s Dean Barker (current Emirates Team NZ skipper) became the youngest helmsman to win an America’s Cup race (in the final race of the 2000 event)

* New Zealand is a world leader in the design and building of yachts, masts, sails and gear allied to a global world-wide reputation for re-fitting super yachts

* New Zealand is at the forefront of technology surrounding the America’s Cup - the highly innovative wing sails and several other key components have been designed and built in New Zealand

* The America’s Cup iPad, iPhone and android apps have been designed by Kiwi company Animation Research - which also developed the world’s first live 3D animated graphics for sports coverage

* The Viaduct Basin, developed for the 2000 America’s Cup in Auckland, has become the hub of city dining and night time entertainment - a lasting legacy of the event

* The two America’s Cup events in Auckland were conservatively worth NZ$1.2 billion to the economy with economic impact reports stating a two-dollar return for each dollar invested

* A further legacy of the Cup...