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For home fans of the Team New Zealand, remaining interested in the 37th America’s Cup is a challenge. Beyond the sting of losing their home event to Barcelona, Spain, the Kiwi nation now must tune-in at midnight to watch “their defense”.
New Zealander Hamish Ross, a legal advisor for America’s Cup teams in the past, has been vocal critic about the defender hosting the event offshore, and is already considering the venue for the 38th America’s Cup in this report:
If you hadn’t noticed (!), it’s an America’s Cup year.
Sadly, many former fans in this country can’t be bothered with it anymore, feeling betrayed after decades of promises of “bringing the Cup home” to stage home defenses.
By the end of the forthcoming Cup match this October, the winner will have largely set up, with a hand-picked challenger of record, the rules and possibly the venue for AC38, even if they are not immediately announced.
As is plainly stated in the Deed of Gift, the Cup does not belong to the team that wins it but to their yacht club, which holds the Cup as trustee. The club cannot contract out its many trustee duties to anyone. While the club may consult, the final decision on the venue for a cup match is the club’s alone to make.
The top contenders in AC37 will soon be considering what will happen if they win the Cup because they need to lock up their arrangements immediately after they win to ensure control over the next Cup defense.
Should the present defender be successful, it will again bring into focus whether it ought to be defended in home waters, as it always was (and arguably required by the Deed). That decision lies fully in the hands of the general committee of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS), to be elected this week, despite a likely repeat of legal threats and tantrums from Mr. Dalton. The committee alone has the sole and absolute power to order Team New Zealand to plan to hold the next defense (AC38) in home waters.
Last time, New Zealand was subjected to [seemingly false] claims and crocodile tears that defense was too expensive for New Zealand to host. The Cup rules for AC37 had been decided before the venue.
This argument can be neatly avoided if the venue is established upfront. The rules can then be set around a home waters defense at an affordable cost.
It will be interesting to see if a newly elected RNZYS general committee will have the moral fiber to rise to the occasion to repair the damage after a predecessor committee timidly acquiesced to what many believe to have been an immoral heist of the Cup.
It only requires a simple public announcement from the RNZYS: “If the RNZYS 37th America’s Cup defense is successful, the next defense will be held in New Zealand waters in [date].” The New York Yacht Club, after all, did precisely this for decades while it held the Cup.
It is difficult to stomach the current campaign, seeking the return of local support for the defender, where there has been a lack of support in return.
The decades-old America’s Cup promise made to New Zealanders first by Sir Michael Fay, followed by Sir Peter Blake of “bringing the Cup home” to be replaced with a rather un-New Zealand unspoken message of “get stuffed New Zealand”, seemingly driven by self-interest, leaving the Auckland America’s Cup facilities paid for by taxpayers and ratepayers for home defenses, lying empty, whilst New Zealand remains mired in a post-COVID economic recession.
Promise a home waters defense and local support will surely return.
Editor’s note: Hamish notes how the America’s Cup defense had always been held in home waters, but that omits the 2017 event in which the USA took the racing offshore to Bermuda (also for $$$). While the 2007 and 2010 defenses by Alinghi were not held in Switzerland, that was due to a lack of suitable venue per the Deed of Gift.
Viewing details – Race information – Weather forecast
Races start at 14:00 CET (08:00 ET) and run until 16:30 or 17:00, depending on the schedule.
Following the publication of the AC37 Protocol and AC75 Class Rule on November 17, 2021, the AC75 Class Rule and AC Technical Regulations were finalized on March 17, 2022. The entry period was from December 1, 2021 until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup could be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the reveal, finally confirming Barcelona on March 30, 2022. The 37th America’s Cup begins October 12, 2024.
Teams revealed to challenge defender Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL):
• INEOS Britannia (GBR)
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI)
• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team (ITA)
• NYYC American Magic (USA)
• Orient Express Racing Team (FRA)
2023-24 Preliminary Regattas
September 14-17, 2023 (AC40): Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
November 30-December 2 (AC40): Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
August 22-25, 2024 (AC75): Barcelona, Spain
2024 Challenger Selection Series
August 29-September 8: Double Round Robin
September 14-19: Semi Finals (Best of 9)
September 26-October 7: Finals (Best of 13)
2024 America’s Cup
October 12-21: 37th Match (Best of 13)
For competition details, click here.
Additionally, 12 teams will compete in the 2024 Youth & Women’s America’s Cup.
Noticeboard: https://ac37noticeboard.acofficials.org/
Event details: www.americascup.com/en/home
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