Team NZ can offer challengers a hand
AUCKLAND: Team New Zealand is willing to lend a helping hand to potential 2021 America’s Cup challengers should they need it.
After the first entry period for the 2021 regatta ended yesterday, three heavilyfinanced teams have opted to line up against Team NZ in Auckland.
Challenger of record Luna Rossa, Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Team UK and the New York Yacht Club have left a choppy wake for smaller teams to follow.
Earlier this year, British sailor Sir Ben Ainslie announced his next campaign received a significant boost of $217 million.
TNZ boss Grant Dalton told NewsTalk ZB’s Martin Devlin he was shocked by Ainslie’s backing and said other teams struggled to see how they could compete.
‘‘About four of the smaller teams are looking at that and going, ‘wow, this is a big mountain to climb’,’’ Dalton said.
‘‘It’s a lot of money — that would have done the last two and a half campaigns for Emirates Team New Zealand.’’
Dalton is in negotiations with the other teams and said Team NZ was willing to assist them with design and set up, but insists that money is not everything.
‘‘My answer to them is to use the Emirates Team New Zealand example. We were always the smaller team and look what you can do in a lot of cases with half the resource.
‘‘We’ve shown that David can beat Goliath, and can beat him well if you make smart decisions,’’ he said.
Dalton added that it was hard to find legitimate sponsorships in the sailing market, but Team NZ should be in the clear with a budget similar to the Bermuda campaign.
He also questioned if there was too much strain on teams with the deadline when, in reality, there is only space at the Auckland hub for six team bases.
‘‘It might be that we put the pressure on a little early and they need more time,’’ Dalton said.
‘‘I think that late entry period right till the end of the year certainly gives these other teams more time. But in the end, there’s one thing, we can only actually — in terms of the facilities — we can only take two more teams, anyway.’’