Dalton: TNZ ‘spies’ are Kiwis

Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton told Radio New Zealand yesterday that the people they suspected were New Zealanders and had denied spy claims when confronted.

‘‘They were always going to say no, but at that point they obviously panicked and next thing we knew was their lawyers,’’ Dalton said.

Dalton reiterated that suspicions were raised just before Christmas and the syndicate had worked a plan to try to catch the alleged culprits.

That had proven successful when sensitive information was relayed back to the team from Europe, meaning that the leak could only have come from one source.

‘‘At that point really for these guys, the game was up, I think earlier than they expected,’’ Dalton said.

The alleged informants had also passed on information to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, about finances around the event and Team New Zealand.

Dalton confirmed Team New Zealand were working with the ministry on those. That had been going on for some time.

‘‘Although these allegations [made against Team New Zealand] are baseless, MBIE have no choice but to investigate despite our belief that the motives of the informants are extremely suspect,’’ Dalton said.

‘‘We are working with MBIE to close out the remaining issues with them quickly.’’

The sensational development came as Team New Zealand started their next phase of testing, getting their full-scaled AC75 Te Aihe back out on the water yesterday.

The 75-foot foiling monohull has been out of action for four months, making an ill-fated return trip to Europe as buildup regattas were cancelled amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

The Kiwis will be hoping none of the secrets of Te Aihe, or the second boat currently under construction that will defend the America’s Cup next March, have been revealed.