Focus on America’s Cup future as New Zealand rule the waves

By Alexander Smith

No sooner had New Zealand crossed the finish line to win the 37th America’s Cup off Barcelona at the weekend than the focus moved to what the next one will look like

The beaten British, who had not competed in the final for some 60 years and have never won the event, immediately handed New Zealand a notice to become the “challenger of record”, meaning they will now negotiate key aspects of the 38th America’s Cup.

Grant Dalton, an America’s Cup veteran who has now led what some say is the “complete team” to three consecutive wins, joked when accepting the trophy that the last time he did so he was back at his desk the next morning plotting the next campaign.

New Zealand proved their prowess on and off the water in their defence of the “Auld Mug”, comprehensively defeating the crew led by Ben Ainslie, who said the America’s Cup winners were the best team in its 173-year history.

Dalton told Reuters ahead of the final that if New Zealand won their focus would be on continuation, including developing the AC75 boat design, and attracting more teams in addition to the British, French, Italian, Swiss and US entries in 2024.

Although all this year’s challengers have said they plan another tilt, mounting a high-tech America’s Cup challenge costs at least 75 million euros (NZ$134 million), making the barriers to entry high.

“We want to put stronger budget restraints on to try and encourage new teams,” Dalton said, adding that at the same time he did not want to stifle innovation or diminish the technology which makes the America’s Cup a design-led competition.

At the same time, however, Dalton said there was a need to look at the mix of sailors and technology on board to allow more opportunities to sail them rather than relying on technology.

One significant development in Barcelona was the first Women’s America’s Cup, a change Dalton described as a great success and something he would pursue again as defender. The event, raced in smaller AC40 boats, also attracted Australian, Canadian, Dutch, German, Spanish and Swedish crews.

Britain’s Ainslie also told Reuters that he was in favour of sticking with the AC75s and pursuing the women’s event, meaning that both parties will be on the same page when putting in place the “protocol” for the next event.

‘Great event’

One key question given the time it takes to prepare logistically for an America’s Cup is the next venue. Along with Auckland, Barcelona and Valencia, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia has been suggested as a potential host.

“We want to end up in a venue that appreciates the Cup and can do the right thing to make a great event,” Dalton said.

For Barcelona, which has been a popular choice among teams and sponsors but not universally welcomed by its people, hosting an “audience event” has raised its profile and brought in many important people, tourism head Mateu Hernandez told Reuters.

Hernandez said the economic impact of the America’s Cup on Barcelona was still unknown, but it had accelerated investments in the city’s sea front, in developing the “blue economy” and in establishing a wider maritime cultural connection.

“We need to really process what happened and at the same time we need to understand that the city got what it wanted,” Hernandez said when asked if Barcelona would host it again.

But if the winners thought that the conditions would be the same as they were during negotiations for this event, then it would be very difficult to stage a repeat, Hernandez added.

New Zealand’s chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge told reporters on Saturday that while there had been talks about venues, no decisions had been made and the team would aim to put out a timetable for making such choices in the next few weeks.

– Reuters