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If boats have a soul and feelings, then Black Magic II (NZL-38) experienced the highest highs and perhaps a twinge of jealousy too. Although it never sailed in the America's Cup Match, history will be generous to Black Magic II as an important contributor to the Kiwis win in 1995 and successful defence in 2000.
During its campaign for the 1995 America's Cup, Team New Zealand opted for a clever strategy, to use the design data from Sir Michael Fay's 1992 team which, with NZL-20 had just missed winning the Louis Vuitton Cup 1992. Team New Zealand would begin from that design base, and then build two almost identical twin boats for the 1995 campaign. The goal was to test and race the two boats against each other for nearly two years, improving each boat through this extensive training.
Thus NZL-38 was launched in Auckland in December 1993, three months after NZL-32. Peter Blake and his team decided to sail the 'newer' boat, NZL-38 in the opening rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup, which began in San Diego in January 1995. NZL-38 was remarkable on the race course, building 22 wins against a single defeat (and that came on a disqualification against oneAustralia).
But despite its outstanding record, NZL-38 would never sail in the final matches. Instead the 'old' NZL-32 was elected to finish the job. "We are very comfortable with our decision," said Peter Blake to shocked Cup-watchers. History will show that the Kiwis made a good choice. Black Magic I (NZL-32) dominated the Semi-Finals and Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, losing just once to oneAustralia in the Finals. NZL-32 went on to crush the Defender, Young America (USA-36) by five wins to none, honouring NZL-38 in the process.
NZL-38 would go on to play an important role in the first Kiwi defence of the Cup in 2000. In 1996, back in New Zealand, its mast was moved further forward, and the angle of the rudder was corrected to help balance the boat in the stronger winds of the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland. The next year, the metre-bow on NZL-38 was replaced by the 'destroyer' style of bow to help in the heavier sea conditions. Thus NZL-38 became the test boat, helping Team New Zealand successfully defend the Cup in 2000.
NZL-38, with such an outstanding record, was an obvious choice when the Swedish Victory Challenge was looking for a trial horse for its campaign for the 2003 America's Cup. "By purchasing NZL-38 we save two or three years," said Matt Johansson, the project manager for the Swedish team. On the 6th of July, 2000, it was launched at the Eriksberg's yard in Maskinkajen near Gothenburg. The ex-Black Magic II was christened 'Cristina', the name of team boss Jan H. Stenbeck's daughter. Now denominated SWE-38, the boat would be used as a trial horse in testing off the archipelago of Gothenburg and then to Las Palmas (Spain), and finally to Sète (France), where it was sailed alongside the behAPpy former (SUI-59, 2000) of the Alinghi syndicate. In October, 2001, SWE-38 would be shipped to Auckland where it would be sailed to help get the two new Swedish ACC designs (Örn, SWE 63 and Orm, SWE-73) up to speed.
After the 2003 America's Cup, NZL-38, ex-Black Magic II stayed in storage for nearly a year. Now, having been bought in March 2004 by a European group of America's Cup enthusiasts and shipped to a yard near Valencia, Spain, she is currently awaiting launching in the Mediterranean Sea, ready for the 2005 sailing season...
J.T.
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Year of building
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12/1993 |
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Launched
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1993 |
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Edition 29(1995)
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Crew
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16 |
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Hull
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Carbon Fiber |
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Mast
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Carbon Fiber |
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L.O.A
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24.24 |
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L.W.L
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18.04 |
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Mast
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Beam
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4.05 |
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Boom
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Sail Area
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Displacament
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24.7 |
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Draft
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Rating
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IACC |
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Ballast
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