New Zealand Launches Its Fourth Boat : Sailing: Designer says it’s built for speed, not beauty.

CORONADO —  Syndicate head Michael Fay repeated the comparison. New Zealand’s fourth and final America’s Cup yacht looks like an “an 18-year-old on steroids.”

Monday at the dock of the New Zealand base camp, family members of the Kiwi America’s Cup syndicate watched the launching of “New Zealand,” which looks a great deal like the other three boats--on the surface. There was speculation that it wasn’t the most beautiful of yachts as Rose Montgomery, wife of tender driver Matthew Montgomery, christened the boat by pouring a bottle of Steinlager over the bow.

Beauty is speed in this case.

“It looks good; fast boats always look good,” said mainsail trimmer Don Cowie.

“Ugly becomes beautiful when it’s fast,” said Russell Bowler, who designed the boat with Bruce Farr. “This will either be declared an ugly duckling or the new image.”

This is New Zealand’s third shot at the America’s Cup and the eighth boat it has built in as many years. Fay said this boat represents “how far we’ve come in those eight years, for those of you who can remember ’83 when we struggled to build our first 12-meter yacht for an America’s Cup competition. We’ve come a long, long way since then. . . . I have no doubts that in ‘92, this team and this boat can do the job.”

All the underwater appendages were hidden, but above water, New Zealand has the same red paint as the first three boats. On the hull, the stern appears wider and it has a one-meter bowsprit.

“There aren’t many of them around,” Bowler said of the bow, which requires the use of a spinnaker pole. “It’s not highly unusual, but it’s a system we opted for. I haven’t seen it on the latest boats of other groups, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it used. It’s different from what most others have opted for. Only the future will tell who’s right and who’s wrong.”

In its first outing, New Zealand didn’t leave the bay. Straining to get a closer look were several syndicates, including Team Dennis Conner and the Spanish, and a helicopter that hovered above.

The buzz of the yachting world is that New Zealand and the Italian syndicates are the challenging favorites. Bowler took the compliment in stride.

“It’s nice that everyone has that sort of respect for our efforts,” he said.

Bill Trenkle, operations manager for Team Dennis Conner, will wed Crystal Hudman of San Diego tonight. She is a computer graphics artist who has worked with the America’s Cup syndicate and has consulted with Conner on his own, recent painting pursuits.