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Home , Kookaburra III, New Zealand Challenge, Team New Zealand

THE HISTORY OF ETNZ - PART 1

As the 36th ’s Cup draws ever nearer, our lengthy alliance with Emirates Team has once again piqued a keen interest in the yachting world from within the Hydraulink community. As such, we have decided to celebrate the return of the upcoming Cup season with a series of emails diving deep into New Zealand’s history in the America’s Cup. Over the next few months, we’ll take you on a journey into the past and back again, with an in-depth insider’s view of ’s triumphs and disasters. TE KAHU - THE HAWK

With the team’s recent reveal of their new custom designed and built test boat, ‘Te Kãhu’, we thought this the perfect chance to take a look at this new boat, its purpose and what exactly it means for the team. With a hydraulic system on-board that utilises Hydraulink hoses and fittings, this is a project very near to our hearts and we’re incredibly proud to have contributed to the build of this ground-breaking yacht.

Purpose-built by ETNZ’s dedicated team of over 30 skilled boat builders, Te Kãhu was created to allow the sailing crew to continue their on-wa- ter development program without delay, whilst Te Aihe is packed up and shipped to Europe in preparation for the first of the America’s Cup World Series events beginning in April. While the series’ rules on test yachts dictated that this boat be limited to a length of 12m or less in comparison to Te Aihe’s larger 20.7 metre hull, don’t be fooled by her size – Te Kãhu is every bit as technologically advanced as Te Aihe.

While her appearance may have come as a surprise to many with the Challengers’ test boats al- ready on the water for a significant amount of time, our Kiwi crew had good reason for this apparent change of plans.

In the words of CEO Grant Dalton: “It might seem like the launch of our test boat is a bit overdue, but early in any campaign decisions have to be made that ultimately will only be judged at the end. As a team, we decided that a test boat was indeed a really key necessity but believed it needed to have as much design input as our first AC75 to give it meaningful ongoing development possibilities. There is no doubt looking back that the Challengers all learnt some valuable lessons and got a bit of a jump on us with their develop- ments. But it was a conscious decision of ours to suck that up and play the long game knowing that points don’t start to count until the first race of the America’s Cup, which obviously is in March 2021. In Te Kãhu we have a very legitimate test boat which will provide us the platform to hopefully make some significant gains in our developments for 2021. Who is right in their overall plans and strategy, we have no idea. I guess we will find out next year.”

Te Aihe is now being readied for shipping to the first regatta in Sardinia in April, preceding the 36th America’s Cup, where Emirates Team New Zealand will be once again showing why they are at the cutting edge of yachting evolution. Against a perpetual wall of money, Kiwi sailors have always found a way to get around or over it with skill, innovation, and positive attitude. Once again, they will be engaging in a battle against the challengers, with the hopes of the nation on their shoulders. NEW ZEALAND’S HISTORY IN THE AMERICA’S CUP

With their sleek new AC75 finally revealed, Team New Zealand are once again showing us why their reputation as key players at the cutting edge of yachting evolution stands strong. Against a perpetual wall of money, Kiwi sailors have always found a way to get around or over it with skill, innovation and positive attitude.

Almost like an act of defiance, Team New Zealand keep challenging for the Auld Mug despite heart-breaking disappointments and the ever-present financial hurdles put in place by their competition and circumstances. Government funding has been a sore point at times but with each Cup cycle the economic spinoffs are hard to ignore. On a sporting level, taking on the world is ingrained in New Zealand’s DNA and when it comes to sailing, there is little argument that Kiwis can match it with the best. Blessed with endless coastline as a key ingredient, New Zealand has produced Olympic sailing champions and round-the-world winners and in 1987 mounted the first challenge for the world’s most famous yacht race. 1987 - PLASTIC FANTASTIC AND ‘DIRTY DEN’

Thanks to and his audacious campaign that won the America’s Cup, New Zealanders were in a better geographical position to launch their first challenge and it was Marcel Falcher, a Belgian businessman who got the ball rolling. Shortly after registering the challenge, Falcher was made to leave New Zealand under allegations of fraud in allowing merchant banker to take over the reins. Under the banner of Kiwi Challenge and chequebook of Fay the wheels were in motion to not only participate in the Cup, but win it. Finding sailors worthy of that level was no problem and the likes of , , Tony Rae, Andrew Taylor and Jeremy Scantlebury would eventually have long America’s Cup careers.

Initially, 12-metre KZ-1 was purchased to get the team up to speed while the legendary crafted KZ-3 and KZ-5 to compete in the 1986 World Championships. Using those two boats and the regatta for R & D, KZ-7 was created and she was different, very different. Farr’s innovative design gave birth to a hull that was fibreglass and in the round robin winning 33 of 34 races courted suspicion from , the skipper of USA’s Stars and Stripes. By the time the two boats met in the Louis Vuitton Finals, Conner had unendeared himself to Kiwis claiming Kiwi Challenge were cheating with their fibreglass hull mouthing the immortal line of ‘why would you want to build a fibreglass 12-metre unless you wanted to cheat?’ While Kiwis had dubbed her ‘plastic fantastic’, Conner lodged a protest only for the organisers to pass her fit for the Cup. Unfortunately, KZ-7 lost the final 1-4 to Conner’s quicker windward boat but the New Zealand public’s fascination and passion for the America’s Cup was born.

1988 - THE BATTLES OFF THE WATER

After Conner beat Bond’s Kookaburra III 4-0 to take the Cup back to the US, Fay wasn’t hesitating to have another shot. Using his high-powered legal team he uncovered a clause in the deed that would force the to accept a challenge in 10 months in any boat that didn’t exceed 90 foot (27m). Rehashing the KZ-1 name, the new behemoth boat was the fastest monohull keelboat in the world and travelled to the Cup’s new home in San Diego. Fay would soon get a taste of his own medicine and using the wording of the deed, Conner turned up to race in a that was outlandish- ly quick and swept KZ-1 2-0. The farcical racing situation ended up in courts with Kiwi Challenge winning the Cup only to have the decision rescinded on appeal from Conner’s syndicate. Ultimately, Fay’s appeal to the highest New York court failed and it was back to the drawing board. KEY PLAYERS IN NZ’S FIRST CHALLENGES FOR THE AMERICAS CUP

SIR MICHAEL FAY The Kiwi millionaire put his money where his mouth was and stumped up the money in 1987 for the first ever for the Cup in . He also wrote cheques for the legal battles that followed and the subsequent challenge a year later and in 1992.

DENNIS CONNER ‘Dirty Den’ became the American sailor Kiwis loved to hate in 1987 when, worried about KZ-7’s impressive speed, accused the New Zealand team of cheating. Conner’s walkout on the Holmes show when prodded for an apology was the last straw for the Kiwi public but on the water, Conner was undoubtedly a sharp operator.

ALAN BOND The colourful Australian businessman in a roundabout way was the conduit for New Zealand’s America’s Cup challenges, winning in 1983 and making the regatta accessible for Kiwi sailors. By beating American boat , Bond and Australia II broke the longest winning streak in the history of sport.

CHRIS DICKSON Dickson was another of the world class sailors from New Zealand’s shores and was the original skipper of KZ-7. Featuring in the following America’s Cups with overseas syndicates until 2007, Dickson was well regarded as a fierce and gifted competitor, only losing once in the challenger series of the Perth regatta.

NEXT TIME: The frustrations of the team’s 1992 attempt at the cup, followed by 1995’s glorious triumph.