NZL-92 of Emirates Team New Zealand to be in Valencia by Christmas

This is an cxcerpt from the Emirates Team New Zealand website:

The team winds up the summer testing programme in Valencia this week.

By the end of August, the team will be taking a month off and the focus will be on building, fitting-out and sea-trialing NZL 92, the team’s second new boat.

Grant Dalton: “The team has worked hard for six months. They have come to grips with living in Spain, the quirks of the sailing venue and they have coped well with long days in the heat of a Spanish summer. We have achieved what we set out to do over this America’s Cup season: establish ourselves as a credible challenger for the America’s Cup in 2007.”

The team will sail for the last time on Saturday and then after a short break will pack equipment essential for the build and sea trials of NZL 92 in Auckland. By Christmas, NZL 92 and the equipment will be back on a Maersk container ship for the voyage back to Valencia.

One of the last chances we have to see NZL-82 being lifted from Valencia's waters. Valencia, 8 August 2006. Photo by Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

As the Omega watch says, NZL-82 will retire from official America's Cup action 250 days before the first race of the America's Cup. The question is whether NZL-92 will be the boat facing Alinghi when the watch has reached zero. Valencia, 8 August 2006. Photo by Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing