26 Jun 2017

Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand win the 35th America’s Cup

Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand have won the 35th America’s Cup.

Another dominant race win for Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand in race nine of the America’s Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton, gave the Kiwi team victory on the Great Sound in Bermuda, sparking wild celebrations on board their America’s Cup Class (ACC) boat, and the team’s support boats on the Great Sound. Burling now adds the 35th America’s Cup to the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup trophy he won in San Francisco, 2013.

The Kiwi team dominated the final stage of the 35th America’s Cup, winning eight races to ORACLE TEAM USA’s one race win, giving the New Zealanders a final winning scoreline of 7-1.

The America’s Cup was last won by a team representing New Zealand in 2000 and they are now the Defenders of the America’s Cup for the 36th installment of the competition for the oldest trophy in international sport.

In the final press conference of the 35th America’s Cup, Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand, also announced that the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron has accepted the challenge of Circolo della Vela Sicilia, who will be the Challenger of Record for the 36th America’s Cup and will be represented by Luna Rossa.

America’s Cup Match, presented by Louis Vuitton
Race Nine
Race nine started with both Emirates Team New Zealand and ORACLE TEAM USA enjoying clean starts and engaged in a drag race to the first mark, the US team edging just ahead but then losing ground to their rivals on the run to the second mark.

Burling was serene at the helm of the Kiwi boat, displaying no nerves as he steered his team towards glory, but Spithill and the ORACLE TEAM USA crew were not giving up, pushing harder than ever to try and take the tie to race ten. However, it was not to be.

By the third mark the Challenge’s lead was up to 26 seconds, increasing further still at the fourth mark, up to 34 seconds, and from that point, barring mistakes by Burling and his all-conquering Emirates Team New Zealand crew, the die was cast.

ORACLE TEAM USA managed to peg back their rivals slightly in the latter stages of the race, but New Zealand sealed their win in impressive style, crossing the finish line for the final time in the 35th America’s Cup 55 seconds ahead of the US team.

Selected quotes from Emirates Team New Zealand, ORACLE TEAM USA and America’s Cup Event Authority

Peter Burling, helmsman, Emirates Team New Zealand:

© Ricardo Pinto

“We’re just blown away. We came here to win the America’s Cup and right now we’re taking the America’s Cup back home to New Zealand.

“To be able to win eight races in Beautiful Bermuda in front of a big crowd of our own fans is overwhelming, we’re just happy to be able to share this moment with them, we’re just blown away.

“I’ve grown up watching this competition as a fan and to be a Kiwi and taking this Cup home is a dream come true.

“To be able to win this event at such a young age is an unreal feeling. However, I’m just a tiny part of a massive team and it is incredible to be able to reward the hard work of those hundreds of people who have supported us, not only here but back home in New Zealand as well.

“We’ve had to go through some incredibly tough times to get to this point. It has been an incredibly tough path to get past the rest of the challengers and then ORACLE TEAM USA and it’s credit to every team that competed.

“It’s so unique to get to sail these boats, every day they can be different. Our incredible shore team gave us that edge and to be able to reward their hard work and bring this Cup home with us is an amazing feeling.

“It’s just sinking in really and I think that will be the same feeling for all of those Kiwi fans watching us win the America’s Cup back home.

“For me I think the reason we won was because of what happened four years ago. This team has gone through some really tough spots from San Francisco and to be able to reward this team with the America’s Cup is the best feeling, because they are such an incredible team.

“I’d like to say thank you to Bermuda. It has been an amazing venue for a sailing event and I’ve absolutely loved this place, I’d love to come back at some stage.

Glenn Ashby, Skipper, Emirates Team New Zealand:

“It’s just an amazing feeling of satisfaction to have finally won the America’s Cup.

“It has been an incredibly tough journey to get here. We came across late to Bermuda from New Zealand and to be able to get the boat into good shape in such short time is all credit to our amazing team.

“I’m just so proud to be a part of this team and to be able to bring the Cup home and I want to thank the support of the whole country.

“What happened in 2013 was a brutal experience for everyone involved, to be so close was extremely disappointing and is something that will live with all of us for the rest of our lives.

“So to be able to come here a few years later and pull off an unbelievable victory has really redeemed that situation for New Zealand and it feels like justice has prevailed.

“I think we’ve seen some unbelievable advancements here with the boats and the type of races we’ve seen and it’s great for our sport. From a sailing perspective it’s going to be hard to sail anything else after what we’ve seen in these boats, the technology is just absolutely amazing.”

Grant Dalton, CEO, Emirates Team New Zealand:

“We’ve done it, finally!

“We probably don’t realise how big a deal this is back in New Zealand. I’ve been told that there was traffic jams at 4am with people trying to get to work just to see the races, which is utterly incredible.

“We’ve had a phenomenal group of guys, we’ve battled some serious adversity but as a group we’ve overcome everything. There have been a lot of people behind that and none more so than Matteo De Nora, who has stuck with the team through thick and thin and believed in everything that we have done. New Zealand owes a lifetime of gratitude to him for what we have achieved.

“We thought outside of the square and we did it our way. After San Francisco we knew we couldn’t out-spend other teams here so we had to out-think everyone. One of the things to come out of San Francisco is that we were out-designed and we knew this time round that we had to push that area.

“This time round we had no restrictions on design. We just wanted to see what we could come up with and we have achieved some truly amazing things that have been revolutionary in this sport.

© Sander van der Borch

“After San Francisco we had a pretty tough debrief and came up with 20 points that we had to change. One of those was that we had to invest in technology and the people that provide it. We also had to get our arms around the next generation of yachtsmen that were coming through and Peter (Burling) was one of those.

“He told me he wanted to be helmsman, so it was all about investing in the right people and giving them the responsibility to go out and achieve what we knew we could.

“It is important that we make the next America’s Cup affordable but we also need to remember that it is the America’s Cup and it is one of the top sports and not a little beach regatta. It is never going to be cheap.

“It is a fine balance between not making it prohibitively expensive, but not being so cheap that it devalues the competition.

“At the core of what we believe, we have to create an event that takes a lot of the good that has happened here, because there been a lot of good here. Just because we didn’t sign the Framework Agreement, that doesn’t mean to say there weren’t elements we didn’t agree with, it was just didn’t agree with every element.

“To me it is a privilege to host the America’s Cup. It is not a right and we will put in place rules and an organisation of our own that will do everything to be good enough.”

Jimmy Spithill, Skipper, ORACLE TEAM USA:

“On behalf of the whole of ORACLE TEAM USA, congratulations to Emirates Team New Zealand. What an incredible team. They’ve been a class above everyone in the 35th America’s Cup and we take our hats off to you. Well done.

“They sailed better than anyone else out here and so, rightly so, they are the 35th America’s Cup champions.

“The defeat hasn’t really sunk in yet and it is definitely weird looking at the trophy and knowing we won’t be taking it home.

“With hindsight there are a lot of things you would like to change but I think it’s far too early to say what might have gone wrong.

“Finally, I want to say, to Bermuda, you’ve welcomed us to your beautiful island and we’ve loved every moment of it. Thank you.”

Sir Russell Coutts, CEO, America’s Cup Event Authority, was quick to acknowledge the first New Zealand victory in the America’s Cup since 2000, saying, “I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations and praise to everyone in Emirates Team New Zealand for winning the 35th America’s Cup.

“Helmed brilliantly by Peter Burling, with the guiding influence of skipper Glenn Ashby, supported by a world class sailing, design and shore team, they performed magnificently here in Bermuda, winning in dominant fashion.

“I know just how much this victory means to the team and to the people of New Zealand. This is a remarkable achievement, one that will be rightly celebrated in Bermuda and across New Zealand and I hope those celebrations live long in the memory, much as the team’s victory in Bermuda has now written a new chapter in the history of the America’s Cup. Congratulations Emirates Team New Zealand. You deserve your victory, you deserve the accolades coming your way, and now, you deserve to enjoy it.”

“For me I think the reason we won was because of what happened four years ago. This team has gone through some really tough spots from San Francisco and to be able to reward this team with the America’s Cup is the best feeling, because they are such an incredible team. “I’d like to say thank you to Bermuda. It has been an amazing venue for a sailing event and I’ve absolutely loved this place, I’d love to come back at some stage. Glenn Ashby, Skipper, Emirates Team New Zealand:

Red Bull Youth America´s Cup Wrap-Up:

„It was like a Hollywood movie”

No one could have scripted a more exciting ending to the 2017 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup on June 21, as New Zealand was toppled from almost certain triumph in the last seconds of the last race by a determined British team, and Bermuda emerged as the new darlings of sailing. Here, final words and a peek at the future from the Sport Directors, two-time Olympic champions Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher.

Roman and Hans Peter, you spent four years planning the 2017 Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. Were you satisfied with how everything turned out?

RH: Yes, really satisfied. We managed to build the lineup to 12 teams in this edition – 12 really good teams – and the sailing was great. Plus the local Bermuda team, who were new to this, not only qualified for the Final but then won the first race, and the crowd was behind them all the way. There were something like 4,000 spectators, which is a big success for an event like this.

Some of the members of the Bermuda team had never sailed a boat before they started training 18 months ago. Do you think having the regatta on the Great Sound, with TeamBDA such a great role model, will have an effect on the sailing scene here?

RH: Absolutely. TeamBDA is already looking toward their next steps in the future, and Bermuda’s youth program has a lot of kids sailing now. I think it’s had a really big impact.

You predicted that the final day was going to be edge-of-your-seat stuff, and it was! What about that unbelievable last race, where in the final moments Germany hit a marker, Sweden and Switzerland incurred penalties, and Great Britain swooped in to snatch the overall win from the Kiwis?

HPS: Land Rover BAR Academy deserved the win, because they were the best boat overall in all six races of the Finals. But you never could have imagined how this regatta would play out as everything came down to the surprises in that last race. It was like a Hollywood movie: a good Hollywood movie for Great Britain and a bad one for New Zealand. On Day Two, New Zealand was the boat with the best skills. They seemed relaxed and were able to have three wins, but Great Britain was the best boat overall across the six races over the two days.

To follow your movie analogy, the regatta had a new leading lady, Annabel Vose, the tactician for that winning Land Rover BAR Academy crew, who became the first woman on board a boat in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup.

HPS: Yes, we had Annabel’s story on top of all the Hollywood drama, as well as Ceci Wollmann, who was a woman team member on shore for TeamBDA [Bermuda]. For sure we are proud that there were women on two teams in the Final, and that one is now champion of the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. Annabel was so good on the boat. She was truly part of the team, and it’s a great story in a sport like this – where it’s so difficult to handle these big boats in these conditions – that a really nice and extremely talented young woman was better than all the boys in her role.

Speaking of the boat, there are very few sailors in the world, even among the top professionals, who have sailed an AC45F. How did these 18- to 24-year-olds handle it?

RH: That was always the question we heard, even in the 2013 edition of the regatta before we were on foils: “Can youth sailors handle this boat?” And this year, just as in 2013, they managed really well. They prepared thoroughly beforehand, and several of the teams gained experience sailing GC32s, so most had foiling experience when they came to Bermuda. In the rules they were allowed seven days to practice on the AC45F before official training sessions began. So again, preparation was great from the teams, and in a variety of wind conditions. We were never in doubt that they could handle the boat, and their performances showed that they’ve developed skills they’ll need if they move on to professional sailing careers.

Of course you created the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup exactly for that reason, to help the best young sailors build skills as a stepping stone to the top level of the sport. So do you think we’ll see some of these young athletes in the America’s Cup in 2021?

HPS: Definitely. It will be the same story as with the last edition in 2013: All the America’s Cup teams are watching the next generation, and the sport directors responsible for the sailing teams in the America’s Cup are already looking at taking sailors from this regatta.

RH: It’s been gratifying to have these young sailors take the time to thank us and tell us that they’ve been able to do things that they could never have done without the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. We’re happy to think this has been good for their careers, and I’m certain these future stars are going to make a great impact on the sailing scene.

And maybe it’s too soon to say, but do you think there will be another Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in the future?

HPS: It’s not too soon, we are already thinking about boats! This is something we take very seriously. We are planning on developing the regatta for the future, seeing where we can make improvements. We are eager to get going for sure, and we are already having meetings with senior teams to get full support so that we will be ready for the next Red Bull Youth America’s Cup.

RH: We’re looking forward to it, and we aim to have even more nations involved next time.