News Around the World ‘To cross the Atlantic is never insignificant and it is even more
true when the crossing is made on such a small boat. The 6.50 demands great commitment but makes the exercise unique. ‘During such a race we are really closed off from the rest of the
world. Entirely connected with the natural elements. The six years that I spent on the Mini circuit were always very friendly. In every way they were really brilliant times!’ Patrice Carpentier
NEW ZEALAND The end As the 17 September deadline drew near for the announcement of the next America’s Cup venue an official government report on Auckland’s 2021 Defence revealed to absolutely nobody’s surprise that the regatta’s economic returns fell short of expectations. Dozens of pages of economic analysis, surveys, graphs, tables,
colourful graphics, appendices and detailed exposition conclude that in a world radically altered by a devastating global pandemic fewer than expected international visitors attended, fewer big- spending superyachts arrived, fewer international media were able to provide first-hand coverage and fewer teams competed. In summary, income did not match expenditure. In what was described as a ‘perfect storm’ of adverse circum-
stances no other outcome could have been seriously expected. What is surprising, however, is how the joint report issued by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and Auck- land City Council has chosen to paint the event in the most negative light possible. ‘The positive aspects get brushed aside and instead they have written it up in the most negative way,’ said one Cup insider. ‘It is pretty infuriating really.’ The report, for example, outlines that government and Auckland
City agencies invested $384.4 million in the event and suffered significant deficits, -$91.6m for Auckland and -$156.1m for the government. While it acknowledges that some of the city expenditure was for unrelated projects that were brought forward for completion in time for the Cup, it is left to a separate second report to underline any of the positive results of that investment. In its own separate review Auckland Unlimited, a branch of Auck-
land City that promotes economic and cultural development, reveals that $92 million of the city’s expenditure was on previously-sched- uled works. Furthermore, bringing those infrastructure projects to early completion ‘will result in future savings of $67 million’. From the government side the major factors negatively impacting
the event were the closed borders due to Covid. New Zealand’s aggressive response to the Covid threat has been widely admired, although a slow vaccine roll-out has somewhat dimmed that lustre. But the inescapable consequence of the hardline approach was that big income-generators – international fans, media, superyachts and so on – were turned away. The government turned a very obvious deaf ear to intensive
lobbying to allow the superyachts to treat their passages to Auckland as an effective form of self-isolation and quarantine; a staggering 110 superyachts were denied entry. It also declined to sanction the Youth America’s Cup, which had attracted 19 entries from 13 countries and would have been an income-generator in its own right. Even with these setbacks for the four months of Auckland’s Amer-
ica’s Cup summer the city and the country enjoyed glorious inter- national exposure. While most of the northern hemisphere was in the depths of a winter of Covid restriction and lockdown the most viewed America’s Cup of all time broadcast images of AC75s flying across the water against the backdrop of a city basking in the sun- shine with tens of thousands of fans out enjoying the spectacle. America’s Cup Events (ACE) are claiming that ‘the global TV and live-streaming audience to 198 countries was just under 1 billion, 3.2 times the reach of the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda in 2017. ‘Social media was a further area of strong growth across all the America’s Cup channels. Followers more than doubled from 491,000 to 1.09 million between the 35th and 36th America’s
30 SEAHORSE
Cups. Social media channels… delivered 499 million impressions during the racing period and totalled 715 million impressions over the entire 36th America’s Cup campaign.’ The MBIE/Auckland City report took a very narrow view of the
value of this exposure with a figure of $11 million. By contrast, a broadcast analysis by Nielsen came up with a total gross media value of $NZ1.4 billion. The adjusted figure, which compares expo- sure against classic forms of advertising, for AC36 (November 2020- March 2021) was $NZ354 million across all media. So the strategy behind the city and government’s determinedly
grim view of the 36th America’s Cup is hard to discern. Or is it? It comes after ETNZ rejected their $99 million offer for an Auckland
defence regatta; however, that offer reportedly included event infra- structure and in-kind support, leaving only about one third as direct funds for the event. This left open the strong possibility that the next AC regatta will be hosted at another venue. A number of venues, including Cork, Ireland and Valencia, Spain are in the final mix. The venue is expected to be announced on 17 September. Perhaps the negative strategy is to show the Cup as an economic
lemon, so taxpayers will not care if it goes elsewhere. Conversely, it could be an attempt to scare foreign bidders away in the hope of retaining the Cup for New Zealand to be held on a cheaper basis. ‘Probably a bit of both,’ nodded one seasoned Cup observer. Despite the 2021 experience there is ample evidence that the
Cup has previously been a significant money-spinner for New Zealand. The defence regattas of 2000 and 2003 each returned around half a billion dollars of extra economic activity into the New Zealand economy, according to the government’s own report in 2003. That outcome ‘well and truly demonstrates the value of the last two America’s Cup events to New Zealand, with major benefits for our marine, accommodation and hospitality, retail and enter- tainment, and transport sectors,’ said Trevor Mallard, Minister of Sport at the time. ‘This level of pay-off certainly made the government’s investment
of around $10 million into Team NZ and an economic leverage fund in 2003 worthwhile.’ There is every reason to believe that, with the basic infrastructure
already in place and a post-Covid return to ‘business as usual’, a next America’s Cup regatta in Auckland would be an economic success. That expectation is no doubt a factor in the emergence of an 11th-hour private-sector bid to keep the Cup in New Zealand spearheaded by Mark Dunphy. Dunphy is chairman and CEO of Greymouth Petroleum, New Zealand’s second-largest oil and gas company. He was also formerly a director of Fay Richwhite, at the time the merchant bank that backed New Zealand’s Cup debut in Australia in 1987. He claims that he had a number of wealthy individuals behind him. ‘There is no doubt the money is there.’ However, despite repeated ignored invitations to meet Emirates
Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton, Dunphy was insisting on a commitment from ETNZ and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron that if the money could be found the Cup defence would be kept in New Zealand. Also implicit in Dunphy’s interview was a require- ment to structure the funding through the RNZYS, not directly to ETNZ. Both the club and the team were quick to close ranks with a joint statement… ‘RNZYS and ETNZ have a contract under which Emi- rates Team New Zealand are responsible for all aspects of the 37th America’s Cup Defence, which includes funding and organisation,’ said Aaron Young, Commodore of the RNZYS. He said both RNZYS and ETNZ would prefer to hold the America’s Cup in New Zealand but could not compromise the structure of ETNZ, or risk the success of its future campaign. ‘We are in complete alignment on this.’ Whereupon Grant Dalton added: ‘Mr Dunphy has been talking
to numerous people, but curiously not with Emirates Team New Zealand, despite repeated offers to meet him and the urging of our partners, the RNZYS, to do so…’ Until there was an opportunity to meet and understand Dunphy’s intentions and see a proposal, ‘we cannot form a view’ on what did seem a ‘generous’ offer, Dalton said.
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