1
00:00:06,693 --> 00:00:10,053
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Simon Varnett and James Daniels Afternoons

2
00:00:10,093 --> 00:00:12,013
Speaker 1: podcast from News Talk ZEDB.

3
00:00:12,973 --> 00:00:15,293
Speaker 2: The thirty seventh America's Cup is about to kick off.

4
00:00:15,333 --> 00:00:19,053
Speaker 2: Mark Orham's is a professor of well, it's actually sport

5
00:00:19,093 --> 00:00:22,133
Speaker 2: in recreation, which is interesting in itself at the Auckland University.

6
00:00:22,213 --> 00:00:24,813
Speaker 2: Is also a former New Zealand and World champion sailor

7
00:00:25,133 --> 00:00:27,333
Speaker 2: and a former Team New Zealand member. He joins us

8
00:00:27,333 --> 00:00:29,133
Speaker 2: now a very good afternoon to you.

9
00:00:29,133 --> 00:00:30,253
Speaker 3: Mark, Yeah, good afternoon.

10
00:00:30,453 --> 00:00:32,733
Speaker 2: So before we get into the nuts and bolts, how

11
00:00:32,733 --> 00:00:35,413
Speaker 2: does the competition work? What is happening tonight?

12
00:00:35,893 --> 00:00:39,133
Speaker 3: So overnight tonight is what they're calling the preliminary Regatta,

13
00:00:39,213 --> 00:00:42,413
Speaker 3: which is four days of racing for all of the

14
00:00:42,453 --> 00:00:45,733
Speaker 3: competitors including Emirates, Team New Zealand, a defender, and the

15
00:00:45,733 --> 00:00:50,213
Speaker 3: five Challenges. It doesn't really count for points, although if

16
00:00:50,213 --> 00:00:53,373
Speaker 3: there is a tie during the Louis Baton Challenger Series,

17
00:00:53,653 --> 00:00:55,933
Speaker 3: that tie is broken by the result of this Polar

18
00:00:56,253 --> 00:01:00,973
Speaker 3: Preliminary Regatta over the next four days. So in many

19
00:01:01,013 --> 00:01:04,493
Speaker 3: ways it's more important that for the teams in that

20
00:01:04,573 --> 00:01:08,453
Speaker 3: they get to finally race after three years of design

21
00:01:08,533 --> 00:01:12,013
Speaker 3: and construction and testing and getting their configurations sorted out,

22
00:01:12,053 --> 00:01:14,093
Speaker 3: they find they get to lay it out there overnight

23
00:01:14,133 --> 00:01:16,293
Speaker 3: tonight off the orders of Barcelona.

24
00:01:16,453 --> 00:01:19,253
Speaker 2: Right, and mark a slight change with this regatta as

25
00:01:19,333 --> 00:01:21,773
Speaker 2: opposed to pass America's Cups, because I think Ten New

26
00:01:21,853 --> 00:01:27,413
Speaker 2: Zealand designed the rules so normally the defender wouldn't actually

27
00:01:27,413 --> 00:01:29,413
Speaker 2: take part in the Louis Vuitton series. But Tea New

28
00:01:29,493 --> 00:01:31,853
Speaker 2: Zealand are are they going to compete in the whole

29
00:01:31,893 --> 00:01:32,653
Speaker 2: Louverton or.

30
00:01:32,613 --> 00:01:35,693
Speaker 3: Just part of it, just the first two round robins,

31
00:01:35,733 --> 00:01:38,293
Speaker 3: So it's not with our precedent and somewhat ironic that

32
00:01:38,533 --> 00:01:42,373
Speaker 3: when Team New Zealand was the Challenger and Oracle Racing

33
00:01:42,533 --> 00:01:45,973
Speaker 3: put themselves into the Challenger series back in the Bermuda

34
00:01:46,013 --> 00:01:49,213
Speaker 3: series where ten New Zealand won the Cup. Back Ten

35
00:01:49,293 --> 00:01:51,933
Speaker 3: New Zealand was a really strong critic of that approach

36
00:01:52,293 --> 00:01:55,093
Speaker 3: because it does give an advantage to the defender. But

37
00:01:55,173 --> 00:01:58,893
Speaker 3: now that they are the defender the thing, so you know,

38
00:01:59,333 --> 00:02:01,493
Speaker 3: it's sort of a funny old game the America's Cup.

39
00:02:03,053 --> 00:02:05,413
Speaker 3: The reason that they've done it is because the biggest

40
00:02:05,693 --> 00:02:08,533
Speaker 3: risk for the fender is isolation, and that is the

41
00:02:08,613 --> 00:02:11,373
Speaker 3: challenges get to compete against each other, get race sharp,

42
00:02:11,653 --> 00:02:13,933
Speaker 3: get faster and faster, and if the defender's just off

43
00:02:13,973 --> 00:02:17,373
Speaker 3: on their own, they can end up being taken by surprise.

44
00:02:17,493 --> 00:02:20,813
Speaker 3: So Team New Zealand has created a situation where they

45
00:02:20,853 --> 00:02:25,213
Speaker 3: really negate that advantage for the Challenges by both racing

46
00:02:25,253 --> 00:02:27,573
Speaker 3: in this preliminary regatta and then the first two round

47
00:02:27,653 --> 00:02:29,773
Speaker 3: robins of the Louis Vauton Challenger Series.

48
00:02:30,093 --> 00:02:34,133
Speaker 4: Right as land lubbers, we understand that Team New Zealand's

49
00:02:34,173 --> 00:02:38,413
Speaker 4: and France's boats are quite different to the challenges. Is

50
00:02:38,453 --> 00:02:39,813
Speaker 4: there any reason why that is so?

51
00:02:40,173 --> 00:02:43,653
Speaker 3: Well? Actually, interestingly, this is the second time these AC

52
00:02:43,813 --> 00:02:46,573
Speaker 3: seventy five forty monoholes have been used, so that they're

53
00:02:46,573 --> 00:02:48,493
Speaker 3: calling this a version two of the boats. So they're

54
00:02:48,533 --> 00:02:52,773
Speaker 3: slightly different than what was used in the design rule

55
00:02:52,813 --> 00:02:56,813
Speaker 3: that they had for Auckland here three years ago. And

56
00:02:57,213 --> 00:03:00,813
Speaker 3: what they've done again emerates Team New Zealand's been quite

57
00:03:00,853 --> 00:03:04,133
Speaker 3: smart and that they've sold their design package, their basic

58
00:03:04,173 --> 00:03:07,893
Speaker 3: design package for the brand new French and that's Orient

59
00:03:07,973 --> 00:03:11,213
Speaker 3: Express Racing. So what that does, firstly, it gives them

60
00:03:11,253 --> 00:03:14,173
Speaker 3: some cash, which is helpful, and secondly, it gives them

61
00:03:14,173 --> 00:03:18,013
Speaker 3: a surrogate boat which in effect is the same fundamental

62
00:03:18,053 --> 00:03:21,493
Speaker 3: design that they are competing with that goes in through

63
00:03:21,533 --> 00:03:24,253
Speaker 3: the Challenger series depending on how far the French go through.

64
00:03:24,773 --> 00:03:27,773
Speaker 3: So the New Zealand team will be able to watch

65
00:03:27,893 --> 00:03:31,693
Speaker 3: very carefully how the Orient Express boat stacks up against

66
00:03:31,733 --> 00:03:34,173
Speaker 3: the challenges and in effect get a bit of a

67
00:03:34,253 --> 00:03:36,893
Speaker 3: read on how the challenges are going compared to themselves.

68
00:03:37,213 --> 00:03:39,613
Speaker 2: Very smart. So this is Emirates Team New Zealand inny

69
00:03:39,653 --> 00:03:43,293
Speaker 2: Ospritannia are Lingy Red Bull Racing Lunar Rossa. The part

70
00:03:43,293 --> 00:03:45,973
Speaker 2: of Rally Team New York Yacht Club is Dennis Connor

71
00:03:46,013 --> 00:03:46,613
Speaker 2: still involved.

72
00:03:47,853 --> 00:03:50,853
Speaker 3: No no, no, Dennis Connor is not. In fact, the

73
00:03:50,853 --> 00:03:55,933
Speaker 3: American team is quite different. It's actually the two helmsmen.

74
00:03:55,973 --> 00:03:58,973
Speaker 3: They have co helmsmen this time in all of the crews,

75
00:03:59,053 --> 00:04:01,933
Speaker 3: and the co helmsman for American Magic the New York

76
00:04:01,973 --> 00:04:05,133
Speaker 3: Yacht Club entrant Tom Slingsby, who many will know as

77
00:04:05,133 --> 00:04:08,613
Speaker 3: the Australian skipper of Australian sale GP team. And then

78
00:04:08,653 --> 00:04:12,853
Speaker 3: Paul Goodison, who's an Englishman who's a previous Olympic gold

79
00:04:12,853 --> 00:04:15,933
Speaker 3: medalist and world champion in the small foiling moss class.

80
00:04:15,973 --> 00:04:19,773
Speaker 3: So very high quality team. A very different boat, quite

81
00:04:19,853 --> 00:04:22,693
Speaker 3: radical compared to the others. So it'd be really interesting

82
00:04:22,773 --> 00:04:25,413
Speaker 3: to see how the Americans boat goes overnight tonight.

83
00:04:25,653 --> 00:04:28,733
Speaker 4: Mark how much would Grant Dalton or Emirates Team New

84
00:04:28,853 --> 00:04:31,773
Speaker 4: Zealand have spent in the last three years since the last.

85
00:04:31,573 --> 00:04:33,653
Speaker 3: Cup, Well he pick a number and add a bunch

86
00:04:33,653 --> 00:04:36,613
Speaker 3: of zeros on the back of it. I think these

87
00:04:36,653 --> 00:04:40,653
Speaker 3: are very very expensive campaigns, and it's not just at

88
00:04:40,653 --> 00:04:42,493
Speaker 3: the cost of the boat and the sails and the

89
00:04:42,573 --> 00:04:45,053
Speaker 3: rigs and all the support and so on, the cost

90
00:04:45,093 --> 00:04:47,853
Speaker 3: of the team. So keeping the team together, there's a

91
00:04:47,853 --> 00:04:51,173
Speaker 3: team of well over one hundred people, engineers, designers, boat builders,

92
00:04:51,173 --> 00:04:54,413
Speaker 3: sale makers. The sailors themselves are actually only a very

93
00:04:54,453 --> 00:04:57,733
Speaker 3: small part of the team. So Grant has done what

94
00:04:57,813 --> 00:05:00,413
Speaker 3: he thought was necessary to raise the money to keep

95
00:05:00,453 --> 00:05:03,853
Speaker 3: the team together to be competitive. Remembering what happened to

96
00:05:03,893 --> 00:05:06,373
Speaker 3: Team New Zealand when Alingy picked off all the talent

97
00:05:06,933 --> 00:05:08,973
Speaker 3: back and all the way back in two thousand and three,

98
00:05:09,533 --> 00:05:13,533
Speaker 3: so he's been very conscious of both retaining the talent

99
00:05:13,693 --> 00:05:17,413
Speaker 3: and retaining the intellectual property because in New Zealand obviously

100
00:05:17,453 --> 00:05:20,533
Speaker 3: had a step ahead when we defended successfully here in Auckland,

101
00:05:21,173 --> 00:05:23,893
Speaker 3: and he's wanted to keep that steping ahead continuing.

102
00:05:24,453 --> 00:05:26,293
Speaker 2: Mark, great to chat with you, Thank you for the

103
00:05:26,333 --> 00:05:26,733
Speaker 2: wrap up.

104
00:05:26,773 --> 00:05:27,893
Speaker 3: Thanks mate, Absolute pleasure.

105
00:05:28,493 --> 00:05:32,053
Speaker 1: For more from Simon Barnett and James Daniels afternoons, listen

106
00:05:32,173 --> 00:05:35,013
Speaker 1: live to news talks That'd be or follow the podcast

107
00:05:35,093 --> 00:05:36,133
Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio