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TNZ chooses boat for showdown
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CNN) -- Team New Zealand has chosen its latest boat to defend the America's Cup. The team chose NZL-82 to sail in the best-of-nine race series against Swiss challenger team Alinghi, winners of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Alinghi was required to race the same boat -- SUI-64 -- as the one they raced in the Louis Vuitton Cup final in January. Team New Zealand principal designer Mike Drummond said its two boats, NZL-82 and NZL-81, were not identical. "We created both boats with some deliberate differences," he said. "After a while of sailing them together we decided we preferred 82 to race against Alinghi." Skipper Dean Barker was happy to race either boat: "They're a little different, but they're both very good boats." Barker has been skippering NZL-82 against NZL-81, skippered by Bertrand Pace during in-house racing over several weeks. "From day one the boats were nice to sail," he said. "The most nerve-wracking time is when you first put any new boat in the water. You always hope they aren't going to be slower than the last boat." Barker was in the victorious Team New Zealand, skippered by Russell Coutts, that won the America's Cup in 2000. The pair will face off in the America's Cup as Coutts now skippers Alinghi. Both teams will unveil their boats on Tuesday in Auckland.
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