''Taihoro'' is an

AC75 The AC75 (America's Cup 75) is a racing yacht used in the 2021 America's Cup and 37th America's Cup matches and planned to be used for the 38th America's Cup match. The monohulls feature wing-like sailing hydrofoils mounted under the hull, a ...

foiling monohull racing yacht that successfully defended the America’s Cup for the

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is a New Zealand yacht club, and the club behind New Zealand's America's Cup campaigns, under the guises of New Zealand Challenge and Team New Zealand. It held the America's Cup from 1995 until 2003, beco ...

(RNZYS) from 12-19 October 2024 in the 37th America’s Cup match in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It defeated ''Britannia III'' representing the UK’s

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to we ...

7-2. ''Taihoro'' is owned and sailed on behalf of the RNZYS by the

Emirates Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competitions since 2007. Team New Zealand be ...

sailing syndicate, led by Grant Dalton. It was named and blessed by Ngati Whatua Orakei and launched by former New Zealand Prime Minister

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, on 18 April 2024. ''Taihoro'' is a verb in te reo Maori meaning “to move swiftly as the sea between both sky and earth” in English. Ahead of defending the America’s Cup, ''Taihoro'' won both the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup preliminary regatta, held in Barcelona through 22-25 August 2024, and the double round robin of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series held in Barcelona from 29 August to 8 September 2024. This was the first time a defender yacht was allowed to participate in part of an America’s Cup challenger series, although points from the races involving the defender were not counted in terms of which four challengers would progress to the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup. After the first day’s racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup in August 2024, in which ''Taihoro'' beat Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, the crane lifting it out of the water malfunctioned, dropping it approximately 7m, damaging its hull. While ''Taihoro'' could not be sailed in the day-two races, Emirates Team New Zealand’s shore team worked around the clock so that it was able to race again on day three.

References

{{America's Cup Yachts America's Cup defenders Sailing yachts of New Zealand Team New Zealand America's Cup