Sail-World NZ - July 11 - Euphoric days for New Zealand sailing

by . on 11 Jul 2017 Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand e-magazine for July 11, 2017

New Zealand is slowly coming back to Earth after the euphoria of the America's Cup win.

Well, part of the country is.

Last week it was Auckland's turn for the street parade - this week it is the turn of the other main centres. The scenes in Wellington today were amazing - and look set to be repeated in Christchurch tomorrow and Dunedin on Thursday.

Then it is the turn of the provinces.

Has the Auld Mug ever been manhandled this much in its 166-year life?

The attention will soon turn onto the shape of the 36th Match - likely to be sailed in Auckland - but given the enthusiasm of the other major centres, it would be an interesting exercise to see the venue competitively bid between them.

By several accounts, the ink has almost dried on the Protocol - which despite fears that getting into that territory ahead of a confirmed win - has saved a lot of post-Cup negotiation, and should see the Defender and Challenger of Record be able to announce an document in which they are in agreement.

The point that is not widely recognised is that the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand and Challenger, Luna Rossa have 47 years of America's Cup experience between them.

They have 14 America's Cup campaigns between them - with both having sailed as the Challenger in a Match. Emirates Team NZ has achieved more than that of course. The point being that neither came down in the last shower.

There is a strength in that level of experience that has been lacking in recent Cups with a first time Challenger often being picked by the experienced Defender.

The choices of a boat seem to be devolving into a foiling catamaran around 60-65ft long, or a foiling monohull of around the same size.

The issue with the foiling monohull is that while they are great boats reaching and in the Southern Ocean type conditions, going upwind in the Hauraki Gulf is another matter.

However, there are some great design intellects involved, and it will be interesting to see what evolves as a monohull option - if indeed it is realistic.

Whatever the boat it has to be at the sharp end of its type.

Changing a boat type again makes it less attractive to new teams. While the notion is that it levels the design field, the reality is that the established teams can more easily apply their design horsepower. And as Emirates Team New Zealand showed in this latest campaign - spending the first year or two thinking laterally and smart in front of a design computer pays a bigger dividend than building toys early and getting on the water.

The nationality rule will probably be a set number of the non-resident crew rather than a percentage. Looking back on previous Protocols - in the pre-Bertarelli and Alinghi era, the nationality requirement was harsh.

In 1992, for instance, the crew all had to be nationals and had to be on the right side of the fence two years before the start of the Match.

Going back even earlier, it was the entire team, given the New York Yacht Club's strict view of the requirement of the Deed of Gift that the Cup should be for 'friendly competition between foreign countries'.

The Bermudan iteration with just one crew member required to hold a (joint) passport was so loose as to be irrelevant.

The other big issue facing Emirates Team New Zealand is that winning the peace is likely to be harder than winning the war.

With likely four years to fill before the next America's Cup, it is going to be a big ask to keep the team together and gainfully occupied on just America's Cup activities. The same applies for the other teams to a lesser extent.

The question is how to generate sponsorship revenue in the interim to fund the payroll, and maintain the profile of not just Emirates Team New Zealand but also the other teams.

Although it is very short notice, a Volvo Ocean Race entry would fill the gap nicely. The Volvo OR also has an Auckland stopover and fits well with Emirates Team NZ CEO, Grant Dalton's objective to see the America's Cup work more closely with other sailing events and reduce the fragmentation in the sport.

Having the America's Cup champion in the Volvo OR would add mana to the round the world race, and given that Emirates Team New Zealand is the America's Cup champions there would be less pressure to win, than would otherwise be the case. Camper with Emirates Team NZ did, after all, finish second in the 2011/12 Volvo OR.

For the America's Cup to be given exposure in the Volvo Ocean Race stopovers adds a lot to the Race, but also lifts exposure for the Cup.

Volvo OR aside, the other options would be the participation of America's Cup teams in other circuit events - such as the Extreme Sailing Series, GC32's, World Match Racing Tour - but quite how that would hang together remains to be seen.

It is hard to see how the America's Cup World Series can continue unless it can be put onto a basis where the events wash their face financially and are generating revenue for the teams and the individual events.

The experiment of carrying points forward into the Challenger Selection Series of the America's Cup, probably won't happen again. It distorts the America's Cup Regatta - although overall it made little difference this time. But had Groupama Team France been more competitive then things could have got awkward.

Similarly with the Defender sailing in the Challenger Series and a team starting the Match on negative points.

But such matters are all for a future time.

Now is the time for the rest of New Zealand to party, celebrate the achievements of a great team, and rejoice having won a great victory.

Follow all the racing and developments in major and local events on www.sail-world.com by scrolling to the top of the site, select New Zealand, and get all the latest news and updates from the sailing world.

Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor

sailworldnzl@gmail.com

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