Boat Of New Zealand's National Hopes Becomes Embarrassing Environmental Hazard

18th July 2023

Forgotten but not gone...New Zealand's unsuccessful 1992 America's Cup challenger has drifted ashore near Auckland Credit: Chris McKeen/Stuff

Thirty-one years ago, she carried the hopes of a nation, and no care and expense were too much for New Zealand's 1992 America's Cup Challenger.

But the highly-specialised boats which were developed at that time to fit in with the requirements of then-current America's Cup rule were useful for only one thing - racing for the Auld Mug, as five times AC Challenger Thomas Lipton of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club used to describe the much-fought-over piece of Victorian silverware.

"No longer a sporting icon, she has become an environmental hazard"

So if they were successful, the AC boats might be preserved in some Maritime Museum. But if they failed - as this boat did - it really should have been straight to the knacker's yard. However, it seems nobody in Auckland - where the America's Cup-holding Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron already has severe financial problems - had the hardness of heart to administer the coup de grace, and the boat had been left lying on a remote mooring for years, with everything that could be easily and usefully liberated long since gone.

Now the mooring has parted, and she has come ashore on a beach. No longer a sporting icon, she has become an environmental hazard. As one local resident put it, "I couldn't care less about America's Cup history (ouch!), but if this thing (ouch! again) isn't moved soon, we're gonna have a beach full of eternal kevlar rubbish, and there'll be real trouble for somebody".

About The Author

WM Nixon

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William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.

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