Emirates Team New Zealand says it is ready to go if and when the 34th America's Cup returns to a conventional multi-team race.Prime Minister John Key says the government might put money in to support another bid.He was asked at his post-cabinet press conf
Emirates Team New Zealand says it is ready to go if and when the 34th America’s Cup returns to a conventional multi-team race.
Prime Minister John Key says the government might put money in to support another bid.
He was asked at his post-cabinet press conference today whether the government would back a bid, as it has in the past.
"We might do...there's been an appropriation [of funds] sitting around but no final decisions have been made of course," Mr Key said.
Team member Kevin Shoebridge said the New Zealanders were “thrilled” to finally have an outcome, after two and a half years.
“Finally there’s some very clear direction about what the future holds,” he said. “Larry Ellison seems very focused on making it a fair, multi-team event.”
Challenger BMW Oracle won the 33rd America’s Cup in Valencia – skippered by Russell Coutts -– in a giant trimaran with a super-sized "wing," beating defender Alinghi by 5min 26sec in the second win of a best-of-three series.
Decision awaited
Team New Zealand was waiting for an official BMW Oracle decision about the challenger of record and venue for the next event, Mr Shoebridge said.
“Larry Ellison loosely made reports about America [Newport and San Francisco], but he also mentioned Valencia.”
While Mr Shoebridge was not specific on a preferred venue for Team New Zealand, he said Spain was “great” because the team already had a base in Valencia.
“The main thing is we’ve managed to hold everything together and we’re pretty much ready to go.”
The sailing team participated in a series of events last year and already had a full programme for the year, so was still together, he said.
Oracle, as the defender, would set the rules, giving Team NZ and others the timing, venue and type of boat.
“[Larry] has said he’ll go with the consensus on whether to take it back to the more conventional America’s Cup boats.”
Racing in monohulls made match racing much closer, he said. “It’s also more returnable for teams.”
Supportive sponsors
Team New Zealand was “in a nice position” with sponsorship, as Emirates, the New Zealand government and Toyota had all pledged support.
“They’ve stayed by us for the last two and a half years,” he said. “There’s no question we’ve got more money to raise but we’ll need to know the length and breadth of the event first.”
Reports from Spain cited Mr Ellison talking about Italian side Mascalzone Latino as the next Challenger of Record.
