Dalton open to keeping America’s Cup in Spain or returning home if New Zealand wins

Emirates Team New Zealand’s AC75 boat sails during America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta ahead of the 37th America’s Cup sailing race at the Barcelona’s coast

The 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona has only just started, but Grant Dalton is already thinking about where the next edition could be held. If, that is, his New Zealand sailing team can keep hold of the Auld Mug.

After being heavily criticized back home for taking the event abroad, the boss of Emirates Team New Zealand and chief executive of this edition of the cup says he could take sailing’s premier event back to Auckland.

But he could also keep it right here in Spain.

It is all about what is best for the team he has turned into competitive sailing’s top outfit thanks to its mastery of the sci-fi-like foiling yachts.

“We yachtsmen, we are slightly superstitious,” Dalton told The Associated Press. “But every single challenger is thinking about what they would do if they won, because they have to. So we have to think about where.

“Obviously New Zealand wants it back, but it has to be financially viable for that to happen. (So) the doors are absolutely open to it staying here.”

Dalton spoke to the AP hours before his team’s Taihoro racing yacht was damaged Thursday after its opening race when a crane mishap caused it to drop some six meters (20 feet) onto the support cradle. Dalton was in his office at his team’s base when it happened and he said it sounded “like a bomb went off.” But a quick repair job, which included cutting out and replacing a piece of the hull, had the most feared boat at the America’s Cup back on the waves two days later.

A world-class yachtsman himself, Dalton is respected as a hard-driving, straight-talking leader. He demands the most from his team to stave off complacency, and he is not shy about taking on critics.

His decision to take the America’s Cup out of Auckland was slammed back home, where sailing is a national sport — Dalton says that any taxi driver can banter about his team. While Dalton acknowledges that his detractors hated the move, he insists it was necessary after the 2021 cup was held during the pandemic lockdown. If he had kept the race in New Zealand, he says it was impossible to ensure that this team would have the financial resources to successfully defend its crown and mount a top-notch event.

He now says that Barcelona has already met expectations as far as providing the perfect backdrop to attract sponsors. Luxury goods and fashion maker Louis Vuitton is back as its main sponsor, for starters.

But he knows that perhaps the only thing that can appease those angry fans is to prove he was right by having New Zealand successfully defend the title.

“New Zealand is rugby, cricket, America’s Cup. … So, are we forgiven for taking it away? I think there’s probably a slightly deeper understanding now,” Dalton said. “But there’ll always be haters. And yes, I think the answer is (that) to close the loop we have to win.” MDT/AP