Cows to beef up support for Team New Zealand

Cows to beef up support for Team New Zealand

Team New Zealand's most distinctive supporter is sure to draw some attention this weekend on the bow of the 60ft Ocean Vanity for the first race of the America's Cup.

Team Moo Zealand, a life-size fibreglass cow complete with a "secret udder" shaped like a keel, was designed specifically for the NZ yachting syndicate as part of CowParade Auckland.

The shiny black cow, featuring red sock hooves and the signatures of all the Team NZ crew is being escorted out onto the course by CowParade organiser Heart of Auckland City.

"Team New Zealand loved the cow when we presented it to them. Designed by renowned architect Peter Townsend and Michael Revill it is a canvas of simplicity and ingenuity, two elements that we felt mirrored the spirit of Team NZ and their yacht," says Liz Smith, Marketing Manager of Heart of the City.

"Every bit of support helps, and so we felt Team Moo Zealand had to be out there."

Team Moo Zealand was officially unveiled to the public on 19 January 2003 to mark the official opening of CowParade Auckland, and in keeping with yachting tradition, the cow was "christened" with a bottle of milk by Team NZ Shore Manager, Roy Mason.

When Team Moo Zealand is not out supporting the team on the water, it can be found under the hull of KZ1, the yacht suspended outside the Maritime Museum in the Viaduct Basin. Team Moo Zealand is one of 15 other cows in the first herd of the Auckland CowParade now on display in the American Express Viaduct Harbour area. Other bovines include Buzzy Beef, fashioned after the New Zealand icon, Buzzy Bee; Colin McCowhan, a cow that tributes the works of visionary New Zealand artist Colin McCahon, and distinctly Auckland cows Mooving Up and JAFA. A second herd of cows is due to be 'put out to pasture' next weekend at Aotea Square.

The painted, costumed and whimsically transformed cows will be on parade until April this year when they will be sold at a charity auction with the net proceeds benefiting the charity Youthtown.

CowParade Auckland follows on the back of successful CowParades in cities around the world including New York, London, Chicago and Sydney, however this is the first time a cow has hit the open seas.

"We did have a cow in the fountain of New Yorks' Rockerfeller Centre but that's not really the same as having a seafaring bovine!" says Ron Fox, Vice President of CowParade Holdings United States. "It's great to see New Zealand really taking the "bull by the horns" and hosting CowParade in true Kiwi style."

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