Goff calls crisis meeting over Cup course stoush

Crisis talks will be held in Auckland this morning in an attempt to resolve the latest stand-off engulfing the America’s Cup.

The Herald understands Auckland mayor Phil Goff has requested an urgent meeting with key stakeholders of the regatta, including Nick Hill, chief executive of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed).

The move to scrap the inner harbour courses B and C for next year’s event will, according to Team NZ, mean the city views would be lost and spectators would be “robbed of the best viewing experience”.

Last week, Team NZ said they were “outraged that after three years of planning a land-based stadium event” Luna Rossa had “wrecked” the concept. They accused the Italian challengers of “misleading the New Zealand public”.

But Kiwi sailing legend and fourtime America’s Cup winner Brad

Butterworth, who was hired by Luna Rossa last month, told the Herald the British and American teams had backed the Italian position. He said the challengers discovered they would not have access to those areas during the challengers’ Prada Cup, handing a tactical advantage to the home team defenders.

In a letter to Team NZ’s Stephen Tindall and Grant Dalton, INEOS Team UK’s Ben Ainslie and Grant Simmer, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team’s Francesco Longanesi Cattani and Max Sirena, and New York Yacht Club American Magic’s Hap Fauth and Terry Hutchinson, Goff yesterday expressed “intense disappointment” seeing the courses removed.

“This decision has caused dismay among New Zealanders and Aucklanders who have contributed through their rates and taxes to host the event,” Goff wrote in the letter, obtained by the