This is who I am - Chris Nicholson

One issue that was mentioned and repeated by almost every panelist, during the two full days of the World Yacht Racing Forum, was that the sport of sailing needs to put into evidence its characters and personalities. Well here's a nice video from the Volvo Ocean Race doing just that. Chris Nicholson, skipper of the Camper VOR race, talks about himself while Grant Dalton tells us how he first spotted him ten years ago.

Grant Dalton's "substandard yachts"?

I'm a fan of Emirates Team New Zealand and I have no problem admitting that. I often refer to them as the "World's best monohull sailing team" and I think their track record after the end of the 32nd America's Cup justifies it, to a great extent.

When Emirates Team New Zealand was racing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy in La Maddalena, Italy about 5 months ago, Grant Dalton's team suffered from gear failures in various occasions during the round robin but still, after 16 long days of racing, managed to win the event. They beat Russia's Synergy 3-2 in the final, coming back from 2-0 down.

On May 29th, Dalton wasn't very happy because he had just lost the race due to "equipment problems", as he claimed. He claimed that the Louis Vuiton racing format worked if the boats were "good enough", pointing out that the boats in New Zealand were good while the ones provided there were "substandard", referring to Mascalzone Latino's yachts.

Mascalzone Latino crew members struggle with the spinnaker after a halyard failure caused it to fall down on day 2 of the Louis Vuitton Trophy. Dubai, 15 November 2010. Photo copyright Subzero Images/Mascalzone Latino

Back to the future now and it seems it was Mascalzone Latino's turn today to lose their race due to the "substandard" yacht provided by the kiwis. First the gearbox of the winch broke right off the start line. This obviously put the Italians in a disadvantage as they couldn't gybe or tack effectively, severely handicapping helmsman Gavin Brady, famous for his aggressive tactics.

Despite the handicap, Mascalzone got ahead at the second top mark and was leading in the last run when they went into a gybe and through its course the spinnaker filled and just came down. For some reason the halyard clip was open, it came undone but it hadn’t been undone for the three minutes before that. From that point it was a walk in the park for the Russians and they bagged a precious point.

As somebody put it, the yacht was falling apart today. I guess Dalton only worries about "substandard" yachts when they are not his...

Musto to partner Camper in 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race

[Source: CAMPER] Performance clothing brand Musto, has today announced a partnership with Spanish-based international footwear brand Camper, to be the technical clothing supplier to the CAMPER project for the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race.

Musto has a proud history of working with the world’s best ocean racing teams in order to test and develop the latest construction techniques and fabric technologies. Having partnered with Flyer in the early beginnings of the Whitbread Round The Word Race, Musto has gone on to work with numerous successful teams throughout Whitbread / Volvo Ocean Races including Fisher and Paykel, Yamaha, Merit Cup, ABN AMRO, Telefónica and now have high hopes on the success of the CAMPER team.


The CAMPER campaign is being managed by Emirates Team New Zealand. Team Managing Director Grant Dalton commented: “The Volvo Ocean Race is one of the most gruelling and challenging events in the world, and those sailors that compete will have to endure some of the most extreme conditions on the planet. Musto have always provided the most technologically advanced kit - the best in the world -which ensures our guys’ performance is never compromised. Personally, I have had great success in the past wearing Musto, so I am very pleased that we will be able to work together again on such an exciting project.”

The announcement represents a significant step for Musto having recently taken over direct distribution in Spain and now look to use this partnership to develop it’s presence throughout the country with further outlets and own brand stores such as in Palma de Mallorca.

Musto Chief Executive, Nigel Musto, added: “Musto is incredibly proud to have worked with the world’s best sailors through the years and that is testament to the quality of our technical products. Our partnership with Grant and the CAMPER team provides us with a fantastic platform to develop Musto as a leading technical sailing clothing brand in the Spanish market.”

Renowned for producing the most technologically advanced sailing product in the world, CAMPER sailors will benefit from the full Musto 3-Layer System, ensuring they are kept warm, dry and comfortable whilst battling the most inhospitable conditions. Kit will include HPX outer-wear, GORE-TEX® Mid-Layers and Musto’s innovative Base-Layers.

Video: Grant Dalton talks to TV New Zealand about the 34th America's Cup

This is a must-see video of Grant Dalton speaking in depth about the 34th America's Cup.

Grant Dalton talks about the 34th America's Cup. Auckland, 14 September 2010. Video copyright TV New Zealand

Grant Dalton talks to Radio NZ about yesterday's America's Cup presentation

Related audio

Grant Dalton talks to Radio NZ about the 34th America's Cup

Grant Dalton, managing director of Emirates Team New Zealand, talked to Radio NZ on Tuesday morning about the America's Cup presentation that took place yesterday in Valencia. I have to admit I was surprised as he didn't sound too pessimistic about his team's chances in the first ever edition of the Cup on multihulls. He was surprised by the announcement the year of the event would be 2013 and not 2014 as he had expected. He admitted though that 2013 was better for Team New Zealand since it would require one year's less budget.

He certainly wasn't surprised by the choice of the boat, in fact they knew it was going to be a multihull since many months now and for that reason they were "assembling their new people in a multihull environment" quietly in the background. Although they would have preferred a monohull, they have now come to grips with the multihulls and they don't feel scared.

As for the venue, although it wasn't announced, he stated the two most credible cities were San Francisco and Rome. Team New Zealand's preference is San Francisco but at the end of the day money will be the decisive factor for the decision, according to Dalton.

Grant Dalton: The boats used in La Maddalena are "substandard"

Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team NZ, was not a happy man after the conclusion of racing, almost at sunset, on Saturday and with good reason. A horizontal split near the top of the jib and a failed lock at the top of the mast cost his team any chance of winning its race against All4One.

As Dean Barker said they got the start they wanted but because of the torn jib they couldn't build the speed they wanted. Their main job was to keep the sail together as much as possible and minimise the losses while preparing for an attack on the downwind leg.

Yet that opportunity never came because at the hoist at the leeward gate one of the locks at the top of the rig failed and they could not set the sail properly. As a result, in the second beat as well the speed of the kiwi boat was compromised.

It's no wonder then that Dalton voiced his disappointment in the short video pointing out that the Louis Vuitton Trophy format works well when the boats they use are good, such as the ones provided by his team Auckland, but not with "substandard" yachts.

Grant Dalton comments of Saturday's races. La Maddalena, 29 May 2010. Video copyright Emirates Team NZ

Video: Emirates Team NZ present Volvo Ocean Race project

If you are a regular reader of this website you certainly know by now that Camper, the Spanish footwear company, entered the Volvo Ocean Race with a project that will be run by Emirates Team New Zealand. We reported live from the Spanish presentation that took place in Palma last Monday but we didn't have any video footage from the New Zealand presentation a few hours after the Spanish one.

So, for the record, here is the 33-minute video from the press conference in the kiwi team base, hosted by Grant Dalton, Kevin Shoebridge and Matteo de Nora.

Emirates Team NZ present Volvo Ocean Race project. Auckland, 13 April 2010. Video copyright Emirates Team New Zealand

Video: Grant Dalton and "Clouds" talk about the last day of LV Trophy Auckland

So, here's our daily dosage of video comments from Emirates Team New Zealand. On the left, Grant Dalton, team general manager, seems quite happy with his team's performance so far and with one point in the pocket they will just need another victory to get the trophy. This is due to the very light breeze forecast that forced the organizers to shorten the final to a best-of-three. On the right, "Clouds" calls for a west-southwest breeze of 8 to 11 knots. If it's 11 knots it will be an acceptable race but if it's 8 knots it will be tricky and fluky and as "Clouds" puts it, someone will get lucky and someone will get very unlucky.

Emirates Team NZ is one up in LV Trophy final; Azzurra finishes 3rd

[Source: Louis Vuitton Trophy] Emirates Team New Zealand pulled off two key victories today, first winning match point in a Semi-Final race and then prevailing in the first Finals race of the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta.

The host team will continue its best-of-five match in the Finals tomorrow, racing against the Mascalzone Latino Audi team representing Club Nautico di Roma, which is the Challenger of Record for the America’s Cup.

Racing started in the approaches to the Rangitoto Channel off Auckland’s East Coast beaches in the early afternoon, after a long wait for an uncertain sou-west breeze to fill-in and settle. The shifty breeze was moderate all day, ranging between 10 and 14 knots.

Emirates and Azzurra were 1-1, after the Kiwi’s nail-biter one second win on Friday. There was plenty at stake. The Italian team won the Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice last November, beating Emirates. The host Kiwi team had won the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series event in Auckland last year and they were aiming for a repeat victory.

Emirates Team NZ is 2 wins away from grabbing the LV Trophy. Auckland, 20 March 2010. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

Emirate’s skipper Dean Barker wanted the right side of the course and, with the starboard entry, he wielded the advantage with clinical detachment.

“It wasn’t easy that’s for sure,” Barker said. “Conditions aren’t exactly even or stable, it keeps you on the edge of your toes all the time. But it felt very controlled from our guys. The nice thing is the composure of our guys, which we’ve really been working hard on. Even though things got tight at times, the guys kept doing their job well.”

With their Finals berth safe, the Emirates team enjoyed a break until they returned to race Mascalzone Latino Audi. It proved to be a nail-biter for their Kiwi fans.

Barker pulled off a come-from-behind victory after conceding the lead at the second mark. In the pre-start, the New Zealanders came within centimetres of a penalty as they tacked away from ML Audi’s Gavin Brady but the incident was green-flagged by the umpires. Brady took the lead at the second leeward mark only to concede it when Barker split away on the windward leg and got back ahead.

Emirates Team New Zealand Managing Director Grant Dalton, who also sails on the boat, summed up the day. “I think the bottom line is that we can still sail a lot better. We have to just keep working at it. It tends to click eventually,” Dalton said. “Brady is a bit more aggressive, he came close to copping a couple of penalties today on the start, one I thought was pretty close on the edge. But that’s up to Dean, he deals with it all the time. The whole thing is a bit disjointed because you’re not flowing, week on week on week. So you can’t expect to be going at the normal rate of incremental improvement every day. But we’ve got to be reasonably happy at the moment, going one-up in the final."

Race One – Semi-Final: Emirates Team New Zealand def. Azzurra, 00:26 –Emirates had the starboard end advantage and used it throughout the prestart to hold Azzurra’s Francesco Bruni out from the right side of the course. They came to the line at speed on starboard, in a shifty 10-knot breeze, well separated and with the Italians just bow out. Emirates held for a few seconds and then tacked away into a right shift. When they closed for the first cross 30 seconds later the Kiwis on starboard had a lead of nearly two boat lengths. Approaching the top mark and above the port lay line, Italy pulled back into close contact on a big left shift, but NZ’s Dean Barker luffed them momentarily before the mark before bearing away and opening a lead of several boat lengths that he never relinquished. Tommaso Chieffi, Azzurra tactician, said “we entered on port so it was already a difficult situation. On the second beat, we had the jib halyard come undone. We had to ease the jib out, and that lost us about 20 seconds. God knows, if it was closer in the last part of the race, it may have been a different story but it wasn’t our day.”

Race Two - 1st Final: Team New Zealand def. Mascalzone Latino Audi, 00:12 – After his close miss, Barker coolly controlled the prestart, pushing Brady above the committee boat before returning and speeding off on starboard with the Italians trailing on his hip. Emirates first mark lead was 14 seconds but the Italians got on their wind on the run to round ahead at the leeward mark. Barker said, “you’re happy sometimes to give up some distance if it means that you put yourself in a stronger position. And we did a nice job of that on the second beat – in the end we were able to extend quite a bit.” Brady got out to the right but it didn’t pay. He let the boats get widely separated on a long port tack and the lead changed again as Barker found more favorable breeze on the left. Barker led by 12 seconds at the third mark and also at the finish. Brady’s tactician Morgan Larson took the long view. “We’re really happy, the guys are sailing the boat better than we have all week,” he said. “We’ve just got to get a little tighter in the afterguard and keep our communication good and look at it more like a match race.”

Emirates Team NZ leads Mascalzone 1-0 in the LV Trophy finals. Auckland, 20 March 2010. Photo copyright Chris Cameron / Emirates Team NZ

Race Three – Petit Final: Azzurra def Artemis – Italy’s Azzurra won their Petit Final match against Artemis as the Swedish boat copped two penalties in an early evening race. In the pre-start dialup Terry Hutchinson in the port entry boat was late completing his initial tack and the blue penalty flag went up. Francesco Bruni took Azzurra over the start line just to weather of Artemis and bow out. It was a one tack leg as the boats straightlined at equal speeds all the way out to the port tack layline where Artemis was forced to follow their opponent into the mark. The Italians dominated the next two legs until Artemis pulled level on the last run, only to be penalized again for failing to respond to a luff. Azzurra pulled away to win as the Swedish boat began its penalty turn.

Yet another great performance by Azzurra that leave Auckland 3rd overall. Auckland, 20 March 2010. Photo copyright Sander van der Borch / Artemis

Yet another great performance by Azzurra that leave Auckland 3rd overall. Auckland, 20 March 2010. Photo copyright Sander van der Borch / Artemis

Yet another great performance by Azzurra that leave Auckland 3rd overall. Auckland, 20 March 2010. Photo copyright Sander van der Borch / Artemis

Grant Dalton: Monday's was our worst race in the last 6 years

While we're waiting for the breeze to pick up and settle down in Auckland, it's interesting to watch the following, albeit short, video of the general manager of the world's best monohull sailing team (following Alinghi's demise), that they sailed their worst race in the last 6 years. I wonder what race was that in 2004 when the kiwis sailed even worse!

Grant Dalton admits that Monday's was their worst race in the last 6 years. Auckland, 16 March 2010. Video copyright Emirates Team New Zealand

Video: Grant Dalton talks about the Auckland Festival of Sail

Grant Dalton talks about the Auckland Festival of Sail. Auckland, 16 December 2009. Video copyright TV3 New Zealand

Auckland Festival of Sail announced

[Source: Emirates Team New Zealand] Auckland Mayor John Banks announced today the Auckland Festival of Sail – three major international regattas to be held on the Waitemata Harbour in March 2010.

The events will bring together leading professional international match racing skippers and teams and top-ranked amateurs for 23 days of quick-fire, top-level competition.

The events are:

The Omega Auckland Match Race Regatta, from March 1-6, will feature some of the biggest names in international match racing. Entry is by invitation.

The Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta, March 7 – 21, follows on from the successful Louis Vuitton Pacific Series sailed in Auckland last February. The action will take place over 14 days.

The BMW World Sailing Cup 2010 final, March 22 – 25. A leading international keel boat event for amateur sailors. New Zealand won the right to host the event by winning the 2009 world cup.


Mr Banks says the festival is a perfect opportunity to showcase Auckland and its spectacular waterfront.

“Not only is this great news for Aucklanders with another festival added to the summer events calendar, it’s also great news for businesses, especially those in the hospitality, tourism and marine sectors. Major events are important economic drivers especially during the tough times that we are currently experiencing. Securing this festival in Auckland is another step on our road to establishing the city as a desirable international events destination and we look forward to welcoming the world’s best sailors to our shores next year.”

The managing director of Emirates Team New Zealand Grant Dalton said the three regattas, combined with the Auckland International Boat Show at the Viaduct Harbour from March 10 -14, will provide three weeks of top-level action right in the city.

“When the idea of the Auckland Festival of Sail was first raised, many groups came together to really put on a show for Auckland and New Zealand. We have worked closely with Auckland City agencies, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Louis Vuitton, the World Sailing Teams Association and many other organisations and individuals to make it happen.

“In a few days we will be able to announce the names of the skippers who have accepted the invitation to take part in the Omega Auckland Match Race regatta. Emirates Team New Zealand looks forward to the top-level competition in March and thanks the sponsors, organisations and volunteers who will make it possible.”

Scott Colebrook, commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, says the Squadron is proud to be undertaking an integral role in the Auckland Festival of Sail.

“As the organizing authority of these three significant events, running back to back, we will be placing huge demands on our volunteer race and boat management personnel and resources. With assistance from Bucklands Beach Yacht Club we look forward to our contribution to this marvellous combination of high profile regattas featuring the world’s best yachtsmen and teams that will showcase our City of Sails to an international audience.”

The president of Omega Ltd, Stephen Urquhart, said: “There has been a strong link between sailing and timekeeping since sailors started to rely on high-precision marine chronometers for navigation. OMEGA is the only company ever to have produced a wristwatch that received marine chronometer certification and we are happy to maintain our long nautical tradition with our support of the OMEGA Auckland Match Race Regatta. The Auckland City Festival of Sail promises to be one of the highlights of the sailing year and we look forward to seeing our old friends from the world of sailing and to making new ones.”

Video: Grant Dalton talks about the Louis Vuitton Trophy

Grant Dalton talks about the LV Trophy. Nice, 22 November 2009. Video copyright BTS Broadcast

AUDI Medcup - Cartagena Trophy - Day 2: Losing the waiting game again

The 10 TP52 yachts and 6 GP42 boats played the waiting game again today but unfortunately lost it. No racing took place for the second day in row due to the extremely shifty and unstable wind conditions. The cold front over eastern Spain is still affecting the Cartagena region and keeps putting roadblocks on the race committee.

Maria Torrijo, PRO of the event, tried as hard as she could to get at least one race going but it was impossible. After waiting until 2pm ashore, the GP42 and TP52 fleets were sent to the race course, hoping to get racing as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that was not to happen. The race committee tried twice to get the boats going but had to raise the postponement flag, again, a mere 10-15 seconds before the gun. The shifts were too big to have a decent race.

The 16 boats waited until 5:30 pm but the breeze kept shifting right and pressure kept dropping, letting the committee no option but send them back to port.

Thursday's coastal race has now been moved to Friday and is replaced by 3 windward-leeward races.

Unfortunately, again, that was the only racing we got for the day. The race committee tried to start two races but it wasn't possible. Cartagena, 16 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Quote of the day:

Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand: The Race Committee is doing its job perfectly. They are absolutely trying to get the races away and the two races they took they called them 10 seconds before the start. You can't ask for more than that and I haven't heard anybody on our boat having anything other than praise for their job since the very first race in Alicante. In my view they have got only one race wrong in the season, something almost unheard of.

Of course you can always race but if you want the race to be a joke then you race. We got a 40-degree shift in the second race and there was nothing to do but cancel it. They got it absolutely right on the button. Nobody has complained on our boat, not because we are leading, but because nobody wants to go racing when it's all crazy.

You could argue to a point that each abandoned race gets us closer to the championship but even if you drop the long race we still have 9 races to go. I don't think we have done more than 10 in any regatta in any way and everybody obviously remembers the long windless days in Valencia in the America's Cup without racing. Well, good luck to us for having gotten the points in the season so far but I think there isn't a single yachtsman here that doesn't accept that's how the game plays out.

Highlights from the second day of the Cartagena Trophy. Cartagena, 16 September 2009. Video copyright AUDI Medcup

Grant Dalton talks about the Louis Vuitton World Series

Following the presentation of the Louis Vuitton World Series we talked to Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand, who was repeatedly mentioned by all participants as a key person in the establismhent of the World Sailing Team Association and the new professional yacht racing circuit. Dalton spoke about the Series and his team.

Valencia Sailing: Why did Team New Zealand and you personally decide to become a key part of the World Sailing Team Association and the Louis Vuitton World Series?
Grant Dalton: Well, we are a big team and that makes us important but other than that we are just part of a number of people that were brought together. One of the strengths of what we are trying to do is that there is no one team or organization like Louis Vuitton that has total control. We have preferential shareholders of the company that have majority voting rights.

Valencia Sailing: Who are these preferential shareholders?
Grant Dalton: BMW Oracle, Synergy, Artemis and us. That's all for the moment. All the teams that have paid the fee to enter have one collective vote and Louis Vuitton has another vote as well. That's how we run it and BMW Oracle has been very important at this stage. The idea is to have a collective decision-making process that makes smart decisions and doesn't get rolled by one overbearing party. That's new for the sport of sailing and I think nobody has tried to do it before. Maybe it's not possible, maybe it won't work but we think it is a better way and we'll try.

Valencia Sailing: You are having an excellent season with your TP52 campaign and unless some major disaster takes place you'll win the AUDI Medcup championship next week. Why do you need to create a new circuit and not continue with the TP52?
Grant Dalton: We are an America's Cup team and this is why we exist. The TP52 is undoubtedly good but we are not sailing match racing. Only God knows when the America's Cup will sort out and as a result the LVWS gives us a really good match racing program next year. We will most likely come back to the TP52 and this combination will give us a very good season. If you also add the RC44 circuit where most of our guys sail, you have a full season. As I said, our main objective, the only reason we exist is to try to get back into the America's Cup one day when it happens and the LVWS is the best way to do this.

Grant Dalton has played a key role in the establishment of the World Sailing Team Association and the Louis Vuitton World Series. Paris, 8 September 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Valencia Sailing: In the America's Cup and Medcup you design and build your own boats. Here you will, at least in the Mediterranean, be racing with Mascalzone Latino's and Desafío's boats. Won't that put you into a disadvantage? How equal can you make these 4 different yachts?
Grant Dalton: I think that having equality or equal boats is really important and in Auckland I thought this was achieved. Of course, if you lose you don't think they are equal. They were the same because we had a speed difference of 9 feet per kilometer between our boats, in theory, and this is nothing. Yet, Peter Holmberg used to say that NZL-84 was slow and that becomes a good excuse. If they are indeed slower or different then you have a real excuse. Laurent Esquier is in charge of making the 4 boats as equal as possible.

Valencia Sailing: Why was the number of teams limited to 10?
Grant Dalton: Because that's all you can handle with a format of one week of training followed by two weeks of racing. As we found out in Auckland last February you just can't go on forever, something that will happen if you have more teams, and 10 is the ideal number for such a format.

Valencia Sailing: What criteria did you use for the selection of the 10 teams?
Grant Dalton: The criteria originally was to enter and the teams here were the ones that did. And they paid, they put money on the table. Although we communicate a lot on the phone or by email this is the first time we all come together and we will now look at the criteria. Team Origin is obviously important but there are other teams as well. I think that longevity is a really key point. There is no point in having a team, and we'll have them since this is life, that just comes and goes, that doesn't go to Auckland because it's a very long flight from home. That doesn't work.

Valencia Sailing: Will all races be compulsory for all teams?
Grant Dalton: What we will do when there is a host environment, Hong Kong is a good example, is to have a local team. You certainly want a Chinese team in Hong Kong. When there is no obvious host team, unlike let's say France, New Zealand or Italy, we will leave a spot for a local. The public interest will obviously be much greater with a local team.

Valencia Sailing: Let's assume the 33rd America's Cup does take place next February, that Alinghi wins it and there is no further litigation. Will that change anything for the WSTA and Louis Vuitton?
Grant Dalton: It's the same as Auckland. We are not in the America's Cup and we received numerous letters about the use of the logos and the names. The only ones that use the name is you guys. I don't envision any issues at this stage and it will be a tough one for them to win because we are not using the name. They can't copyright us going sailing or sailing the boats. To be fair to Alinghi, they have been in the meetings up until very recently and they have been consulted all the way through and, although they obviously haven't supported us, at least they haven't tried to put any roadblocks on the way. If they want to defend the 34th America's Cup they will have to beat these teams at some stage.

Valencia Sailing: Won't there be conflict if they decide to do preliminary Acts, like they did in the 32nd edition? Your team will certainly have to take part in them if you want to challenge the defender.
Grant Dalton: This can't happen in the short term. For starters, we don't know when the America's Cup will finish. If you do know tell me. In that sense I think that Bruno made a point. At least for the foreseeable future you won't have any conflict because you won't have any finality to the Cup. I think we have a clear run for at least a year. The issue might come from the other regattas. We've got three of our preferential shareholders having a TP52 campaign, so our calendar can't clash with the Medcup in 2010. Russell Coutts is running the RC44's, so you can't clash with those either. So, we have to work things out, especially with events that run for three weeks. Still, we think we can have at least three events in 2010.

Valencia Sailing: Last but not least, one of the main selling points of the LVWS is that it will help teams get sponsors. What about Emirates Airlines? What's their feedback on the LVWS? Are they going to sponsor your team in that circuit?
Grant Dalton: I hope so. We have a very close relation with them and they have been fully briefed but in the last 2 years it has been very hard to hold discussions and the only thing we could say was "possibly, maybe, might do, could do". Their reactions was always, "hold on, we sponsor all those football teams and we know the ball will be kicked on Saturday afternoon". That's why I waited until today. I can now go and see them and tell them "it's happening, here is the race format, here are the dates and here is the price". As I told you, up to now it was "you know, maybe it can go to court". The direct answer to your question is no, Emirates are not part of it yet but I haven't directly approached them either.

AUDI MedCup - Alicante Trophy - Final Day: Everything is up for grabs

Good morning from sunny Alicante. The first event of the 2009 AUDI Medcup comes to its conclusion today and everything is up for grabs. Artemis and Emirates Team New Zealand are tied for first with 30 points. A single point behind them is Quantum Racing and a mere 2 points further back Matador. With 4 strong teams separated by only 3 points it is obvious that nothing should be taken for granted and the winner of the trophy will be decided in the last race.

Unfortunately, the forecast for today is not extremely promising and it looks that conditions this Sunday will be as tricky as yesterday. In order to have a shot at leadership all four teams must sail nicely, have a good start and, particularly, be in the right side of the course at the right moment.

Racing is scheduled to start at 1pm and no start can be given after 3:30pm. Given the expected light breeze it seems that 2 races will be sailed today.

@Nico Martinez / AUDI MedCup

Grant Dalton, Emirates Team New Zealand CEO: "Yesterday's third race was just one of those races that we sailed incredibly badly. You know, after you had two good ones, you know in your head that you have to be really careful that you don't relax or get complacent because that can happen. We got off the line not bad and then went left while we should have gone right. Then we went the wrong way down the first run, we went wrong up the second beat and we came down the last run the wrong way. We basically, completely stuffed it up.

The forecast for today is for light winds so it's going to be another tricky day. We feel our boat starts to kick at about 8.5 knots and after that it starts to get very fast. Under that threshold I think it's vulnerable. If it's like that today we'll be vulnerable but it doesn't psychologically suck us, you have to get a good start and go the right way.

Artemis sailed really well yesterday, they were on a roll and it's going to be hard to stop them today. You always need a little bit of luck but it's obviously not a question of Russell Coutts being lucky. They just sailed really nicely and we only beat them in the first race. They were considerably fast downwind and had a good day.

We came to Alicante looking for a top three position in this regatta and we are now tied for first. Things are not that bad."

@Quantum Racing

Ed Reynolds, Quantum Racing: "I think our performance so far has been fine. Yesterday we had a couple of extremely bad breaks. We rounded the weather mark in a great position into the last run. We had 4 knots of wind and everybody behind us was pushed in front and from second at that point we ended up seventh. But you know what? You can't whine about that, it just happens.

This venue was exactly like that for us last year. When it's light air, puffy, quite of random where you have to take big risks we haven't scored well in those regattas. Last year we didn't, this year we're struggling. We kind of feel we haven't gotten too many breaks and that will even out in the course of the year. After all, we're just one point from winning the regatta.

Everything is up for grabs today and some times being in this position is better than trying to hold the lead. I'm really happy with that and in the only day of the regatta with strong and consistent winds I felt we were the dominant boat. As the season goes on and the breeze gets a little bit more consistent and with a more even race track, I think we are going to be very tough to beat."

Wind Quest
With such tricky and difficult wind conditions, Quantum Racing's shore crew goes the extra mile, on the top of Alicante's castle and looks for better breeze.

AUDI MedCup - Alicante Trophy: Day 4 - Preview

Good morning from sunny Alicante. After a spectacular 4th day, the 5th day of the Alicante Trophy is expected to provide similar thrills as the weather forecast calls for another good seabreeze day with the wind expected to top 15 knots.

Grant Dalton, Emirates Team NZ CEO: "It was an OK day for us and we didn't think it was anything special. We didn't do well in the second race but were still within striking distance. It's an acceptable result but we certainly believe we can do much better. I'm not at all satisfied with our performance yesterday."

Emirates Team NZ round the top mark in 6th place in the 2nd race. Alicante, 15 May 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Emirates Team NZ Newsletter: Grant Dalton’s update

Base is buzzing as we prepare for LVPS

Louis Vuitton Pacific Series

Boats launched January 15-19

Team practice starts January 24

Racing starts January 30 and continues until February 14

The base is buzzing again as preparations for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series pick up pace.

On top of that, the team is also right into its TP52 project, with the build well-advanced at Cookson’s yard on the North Shore. The yacht will be launched a few days after the final of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series.

At the Viaduct Harbour base, boatbuilders, electronic and hydraulic engineers, riggers and sailmakers are working to re-commission the yachts and build the identifying spinnakers for each team. All this and the Christmas-New Year holiday season is approaching fast.

The BMW Oracle Racing yachts arrived from Spain a few days ago and shore crew are working on them.

The four yachts will be back in the water in the third week of January, ready for sea trials and the start of practice for participating teams on January 24.

There’s much more to this regatta than just the four racing yachts and 200 yachtsmen. Once again we have tapped into that special New Zealand spirit that just makes things happen. The regatta could not have been held without the willing help of dozens of people and organisations. Individuals are lending their boats, companies are donating product or heavily discounting products and services.

The Government and Auckland city and its agencies have given great support and practical help. We couldn’t have asked for better. Without their help, New Zealand and Auckland would have missed out on a great event.

One of BMW Oracle's two yachts to be used in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. Photo copyright Emirates Team NZ

Nothing has been too much trouble for the harbour master and police who have made it possible to run the races close in to the shore. Courses will be laid right across the approaches to the busy commercial port so that spectators on shore can share the action.

The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is organising on-the-water activity. They have brought together a large number of volunteers to man the fleet needed for course and racing officials - the umpires, marshals, mark layers and the “ferries” to get race crews on and off the yachts.

It’s a big job but the Squadron, with a couple of Louis Vuitton Cups and America’s Cups behind it, is well-practiced at handling the logistics of a big regatta.

While all the on-the-water activities are being worked through, Louis Vuitton, Auckland City, the people at Viaduct Harbour Marine Village and SKYCITY are working to ensure the race village and on-shore entertainment becomes a reality.

And, because a large number of international journalists are expected to be in Auckland for the regatta, Tourism New Zealand and Tourism Auckland are working to ensure that we miss no opportunity to promote New Zealand and the region.

TP52 Programme

It’s good to see the TP 52 project coming together so well. We will campaign the TP 52 on the Med Cup circuit, one of the most competitive on the international racing calendar. Five regattas (in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy) are planned in 2009, the first in the third week of May.

Our yacht is due to be shipped to Europe in March after sea trials have been completed. A workshop container and chase boat will travel with it.

A TP 52 has a crew of 15. The regattas will give the core sailing crew the chance to sail together, an essential part of the buildup to the next America’s Cup.

The TP 52 project is being funded by Emirates and staunch supporter of the team Matteo de Nora.

Top: Emirates Team New Zealand boat builder Peter Ockleston and Colin Driver. Bottom: Some of the TP 52 build team: Ian McLean, Anthony Murray, Andy Howden and Mark Borley show off their handiwork. Photo copyright Emirates Team NZ

America’s Cup

Meanwhile the America’s Cup saga continues: Alinghi is proceeding to organise a multi-challenge America’s Cup for 2010 even though the Oracle appeal in the New York courts has still to be resolved.

Oracle’s Larry Ellison has told Alinghi that it would not enter the event by Alinghi’s December 15 deadline (and as a pre-condition withdraw its legal challenge) and would persevere with the appeal.

That leaves two possible outcomes: Oracle’s appeal is dismissed and the Spanish yacht club CNEV is confirmed as the challenger of record and a multi-challenge America’s Cup is back on track.

Oracle wins the appeal and a Deed-of-Gift challenge is sailed in the multihulls, in Oracle’s case a 90ft trimaran which the team has been trialing off San Diego. Alinghi’s multi-hull has yet to be seen in public.

The outcome is unlikely to be known for some months.

The team thanks our suppliers and sponsors for their patience and continued support. It’s comforting to know they’re behind us.

Season’s greetings to everyone.

Grant Dalton

Back in the sun ... after more than a year in the shed, NZL 92 gets ready for racing. Photo copyright Emirates Team NZ

Grant Dalton talks about LV Pacific Series on Radio NZ

Grant Dalton, Team New Zealand general manager, spoke to Radio New Zealand about the upcoming match racing event, giving some initial details. According to Dalton, a few hours after the official announcement of the event, there were already 5 teams that showed their interest in taking part. They were BMW Oracle, K-Challenge (the first to publicly express their interest), Shosholoza, Desafío Español and Team Origin. Dalton was, obviously, optimistic about the prospects of the event, funded by Louis Vuitton and the New Zealand government, the latter to the tune of NZ 750,000 dollars.

Listen to the entire 5-minute interview on what the commentator calls "America's Cup light":

Grant Dalton talks to Bloomberg TV

Grant Dalton, managing director of Emirates Team New Zealand, talked to Bloomberg television's Night Talk program on Monday night. The legendary kiwi sailor mainly focused on the lawsuit his team has filed against Alinghi. The interview comes into three parts.

Dalton mentions an interesting number concerning the 32nd edition of the America's Cup in Valencia, that is his team's budget. According to him, Emirates Team New Zealand had a total budget of around 60 million euros, going on to state that they were about the 5th most funded team, out of 12. If these numbers are indeed true, they were by far the most efficient and achieved the best expenses to results ratio.

First part of Grant Dalton's interview



Second part of Grant Dalton's interview



Third part of Grant Dalton's interview